The 3 Most Important Arpeggios For Jazz

You only need 3 arpeggios to make your solos sound like real jazz, but most students never learn them and get stuck practicing the wrong things.

So, in this video, I will show you the 3 arpeggios I have used to help 1000s of students play real jazz solos, and exactly what to practice so your solos flow through the song and sound like the artists you love.

The Arpeggio Problem

Let me show you what I mean. Here’s a II–V–I in C, and this is how most people solo—but it doesn’t really sound like jazz.

But if I use the 3 arpeggios, the exact same chords sound like this

I’ll teach you to use all 3 in this video, but if you are waiting for a secret C7(b5,#11), that is not it. This is about how you play arpeggios so they actually sound like jazz.

The Jazz Way To Learn Arpeggios

The problem with the first example isn’t the notes — it’s that it sounds like an exercise, not jazz.

Most students practice arpeggios as full positions, But in real solos, arpeggios show up as one-octave fragments—short, practical sounds you can use anywhere.

Look at this Joe Pass solo; he is playing arpeggios all over the place, but only the one-octave version.

And this is where it gets confusing, because Joe Pass actually insists he doesn’t use arpeggios…

Joe Pass Clip: Joe Pass -Jazz Lines 

“First of all, I use very little arpeggios, so you would hear very little of them in my playing…”

That always puzzled me—until I realized what he means: don’t just run arpeggios up and down like exercises. Use them as a melody, which is what you’ll learn in this video.

So here’s the practice plan. Forget the full positions for a second—build your one-octave arpeggios like this in C major:

Step #1: Play the scale

Step #2: Now Play the scale in 3rds—because arpeggios are just stacked 3rds

Step #3: If you stack two 3rds, and you’ve got diatonic triads.

Step #4: Add the 7th: now you’ve got the diatonic 7th-chord arpeggios. And remember that the 7th chords are really the foundation of all jazz harmony.

This is a classic Barry Harris approach, which is also where I learned it—and it’s the foundation for the 3 arpeggio moves I’m about to show you.

Instead of trying to memorize these exercises from the video, grab the free PDF in the description. Then you can take your time and get them under your fingers.

The first arpeggio move is one you’ve heard a thousand times in jazz: The triplet arpeggio—it instantly adds energy to your lines.

#1 The Most Bebop Arpeggio!

You already know this sound. Move #1 is something jazz players use constantly because it instantly adds energy and breaks up straight eighth-note lines so your solos don’t sound boring.

Listen for a quick triplet burst—it pops out of the line

First: Barney Kessel on Rhythm Changes.

Or Charlie Parker, who uses it twice in this clip from Au Privave:

And finally, this great George Benson lick

from his solo on Billie’s Bounce:

Different players, same arpeggio move.

All 3 of these examples use the arpeggio as a triplet with a leading note.

And something that is very important: this isn’t a new arpeggio — it’s a way to play any arpeggio, and make it sound like jazz. –

This is so useful that you want to practice it for all arpeggios, and you can take it through the scale:

Quick note—if you want a step-by-step plan, and my help getting this into your playing on a real jazz standard, check out my Roadmap course.

Over 7000 students have gone through it, and you can get feedback on your progress in the community. Link in the description.

Learning that triplet move from Barry Harris was mind-blowing. Now let’s go to Move #2, because this one gives your lines an instant twist with some interval magic.

#2 The Other Most Bebop Arpeggio!

Ok—Move #1 was the triplet burst. Move #2 makes your lines sound more melodic, because the arpeggio changes direction.

This is called a pivot arpeggio. And just like the first move: it’s not a new arpeggio—it’s a way to play the arpeggios you already know so they sound like a real jazz line.

Let’s keep it simple with Cmaj7

Here’s a regular Cmaj7 arpeggio:

Now here’s the pivot. I take the first note—C—, and I move it up an octave.

So instead of starting here… I start up here: and then skip back down.

This large interval skip makes it more surprising to the listener and less like ‘running an arpeggio’, because it gives you an instant change of direction.

You’ll hear this all over jazz guitar. Here’s Grant Green using it in his solo on You Stepped Out Of A Dream:

And here’s Joe Pass using it in the pickup of the Just Friends solo:

Once you know the sound, you’ll start hearing it everywhere.

Which will help also make it easier to get it into your playing.

And both of these are also hinting at Move #3—but we’ll get there

Here’s the practice shortcut for pivot arpeggios: take your one-octave arpeggio exercise (show ex slow ex 6 as overlay)

And for each arpeggio, move the root up one octave to make them pivot arpeggios:

Just play it slowly, and try to hear it and make it sound like a phrase—not just a pattern.

Now let’s put it into music on a II–V–I. Listen for the pivot arpeggios on G7 and Cmaj7, Tis is such a strong melodic tool.

Can you hear how it instantly gives you a stronger melody and catchy flow? That’s why this works.

Remember that if you want that lick written out so you can practice it slowly, grab the free PDF—link in the description.

So with the pivot arpeggio, we kept the same arpeggio and changed how it moves. Now let’s do the opposite: keep the same chord, but switch to a different arpeggio.

#3 There Is Always More Than One Arpeggio!

Now here’s the fun part: there’s usually more than one arpeggio that fits the same chord.

And what is great about this: if you’ve practiced diatonic arpeggios, you already have these shapes in your fingers—you’re just learning more places to use them.

This isn’t a new chord or a new scale. It’s a move: you play an arpeggio built from the 3rd of the chord, and it gives you a richer jazz sound instantly.

I’ll break it down and then show you some examples from famous jazz players.

Let’s use Cmaj7 again:

Now here’s the trick: start from the 3rd—that’s E—and build an arpeggio from there. That gives you Em7: E–G–B–D.

And here’s the cool part: over Cmaj7, those are still chord tones… plus that D is the 9, which is a really strong color note on a major chord.

So now your Cmaj7 lines can sound like this:

And you’ve actually already heard this in the video. In the Kessel example, that Dm7 shape is being played over a Bbmaj7 sound… and that’s this exact idea.

The Parker example also used a Bbmaj7 arpeggio over a Gm7 chord.

This is EVERYWHERE in Jazz

Let’s hear it on a II V I in C, first in an exercise and then in a real jazz line.

As an exercise to get the arpeggios into your system, you can play through the II V I using first the basic arpeggio and then the one on the 3rd. Super easy, barely an inconvenience. Sounds like this:

And when you start mixing these 3 moves, you get classic jazz language fast. Listen to this:

So Move #3 is: more than one arpeggio fits a chord—and starting from the 3rd is the easiest place to begin.

You already saw it, this is all over the playing of the jazz greats—it’s not a trick, it’s real jazz language.

And if you want a step-by-step plan for getting this into your own soloing. Applied to a real standard, the Roadmap course is linked below.

Barry Harris Owns Bebop!

If you want to go deeper with Barry Harris, there’s one exercise that makes all of this show up in your solos on real songs.

I break it down step-by-step in this video—it’s the thing that stops scales and arpeggios from sounding mechanical, and gives you real jazz vocabulary. Check it out!

Learn Jazz Make Music

This Barry Harris Exercise Will Save You Years (But Most Ignore It)

https://jenslarsen.nl/this-barry-harris-exercise-will-save-you-years-but-most-ignore-it/

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