Discover a convenient arpeggio shape that suits all 7th chords by adding either a natural or minor seventh to any major or dominant chord, making them easy to play across the fretboard.
These patterns are ideal for practicing chromatic ideas. Be sure to play them slowly at first, concentrating on getting all the shapes correct; speed will come naturally as you become more familiar with them.
Major 7th Arpeggio
An arpeggio is simply a chord played note-by-note rather than simultaneously, which gives it its characteristic complexity over simple major or minor chords.
A Major 7th Arpeggio is constructed by using the tonic (1), major third (3), perfect fifth (5) and major seventh (7) from the major scale to form four notes on the fretboard that make up this arpeggio. Learning all its positions gives you plenty of ways to use them over different chord progressions.
To play a major 7th arpeggio, begin on the tonic note of your chord and move your fingers up and down over each note one by one until reaching the top. When finished, return back down until reaching tonic again – creating an attractive pattern over any major 7th chord!
Dominant 7th arpeggios resemble their base major counterparts in many respects, with two root notes being found on strings 5 and 2, but their A form counterpart requires some tricky position shifts when playing downhill.
The G form of a dominant 7th arpeggio closely resembles the major C shape chord as its base form; all it needs to grab the minor 7 is moving down one string to access it. Furthermore, its fingering will likely be familiar to guitarists since it uses similar fingering patterns as the major C form.
FminMaj7 arpeggios can add tension and chromaticism to your playing, creating tension when used to highlight the b7 of a dominant chord or lead into dominant b9 arpeggio (FminMaj7b9) or simply beginning on the b7 and moving it up towards major maj7 chord.
Minor 7th Arpeggio
The minor 7th arpeggio is an ideal intervallic structure to work with as its composition allows it to adapt easily to various chords. Consisting of chord tones root (1), minor third (b3), perfect fifth (5) and minor seventh (7) in A minor keys, this arpeggio can be played from various positions within jazz guitar repertoire and should form part of its arsenal.
Work on just a few arpeggio patterns at once rather than trying to memorize all of them simultaneously. This will allow you to focus on building muscle memory and understanding which chords each arpeggio shape corresponds with. Furthermore, this approach will create more efficient methods of playing arpeggios that become part of your chord progressions seamlessly.
Major 7th arpeggios can easily be recognized with their distinct finger shapes, while minor arpeggios often resemble minor pentatonic scale shapes and so it is essential to make them distinguishable – this can be accomplished by paying particular attention to their first and flat third notes of minor pentatonic scale which stand out.
CAGED tuning allows for five common shapes of minor 7th arpeggios. They are shown below in diagram form. A form can be more challenging as it requires you to bar across both minor third and root using second and third fingers simultaneously – taking practice will enable you to quickly transition in and out of this chord shape quickly and efficiently.
Minor 7th arpeggios are an invaluable melodic tool for working with minor 7th chords in all musical genres, including jazz and rock. This course presents five positions of minor 7th arpeggios along with technical exercises to get comfortable playing them and backing tracks with nine licks.