Experimental demonstrations and detailed theoretical explanations are provided for a thorough understanding of the various phase-cycling schemes in an optical pulse shaper assisted two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) in a pump-probe beam geometry. We show that two and three-step phase-cycling schemes can be employed to retrieve both rephasing and nonrephasing 2D spectra. The studies were performed on the Q(y) transition of chlorophyll a. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.