Learning to play jazz we practice a lot of scales and a lot of arpeggios. But you also want to make sure that you get as much out of your practice as possible. It is also more fun to work on making new lines and coming up with new things you can use in your solos, so you want to use arpeggios as much as you can and explore where they might sound good.
In this video, I am going to show you this process and help you get a lot more out of the arpeggios you know by finding more chords you can play them on.
To keep this simple, let’s take a Cmaj7 arpeggio and look at where we can use that.
You can play a Cmaj7 arpeggio like this:
I will probably use other fingerings as well in the examples, and in general, I think you should practice arpeggios in scales as diatonic arpeggios as I talk about in this lesson: The Most Important Scale Exercise In Jazz
#1 Cmaj7
The obvious place to start is using the Cmaj7 arpeggio on a Cmaj7 chord.
In this example, I am using inversions of the Cmaj7 arpeggio. The first part of the phrase is a descending 1st inversion Cmaj7 which is then turned into a 6 note phrase and repeated from beat 4 of bar 1. The second repeat is a descending root position Cmaj7.
The last part of the phrase is a series of descending chromatic 3rd intervals.
#2 Am7
If you have seen more of my lessons then you have probably seen examples of using the arpeggio from the 3rd of the chord.
Here I am using the Cmaj7 as the arpeggio from the 3rd of Am7.
Am7: A C E G and a great arpeggio option here is the Cmaj7 arpeggio: C E G B.
#3 D7
Similar to how the Cmaj7 works well on Am7 then it is also a solid option on the V chord associated with Am7: D7.
In this example, I am using the Cmaj7 at the end of bar 1. Similar to the previous example I am playing the Cmaj7 arpeggio as a triplet with a leading note.
#4 F#ø
The Maj7 from the b5 of a half diminished or m7b5 chord is a great very useful arpeggio. This is also related to the previous examples, but probably you would see this in the context of a minor key.
In this case, that is a II V I in Em and the F#ø is coming from the harmonic minor scale:
E harmonic minor: E F# G A B C D E
Diatonic Chords: EmMaj7, F”ø, Gmaj7(#5), Am7, B7, Cmaj7, D#dim
#5 Fmaj7
The Cmaj7 arpeggio is also a useful tool to use on a Fmaj7(#11) chord.
In this example, I am mixing it with material that really spells out the Fmaj7 sound: Fmaj7 arpeggio and Am pentatonic.
6 Abmaj7(#5,#9)
The final, more exotic, sound is using the Cmaj7 as a part of the augmented sound on an Abmaj7 chord.
The scale sound this is using is the Augmented scale.
The Augmented scale is a symmetrical 6 note scale that can be seen as the combination of two augmented triads or as the sum of 3 maj7 chords.
In this case: Abmaj7, Cmaj7, and Emaj7.
The scale consists of Ab B C Eb E G Ab
With a little enharmonic spelling (since this is an atonal symmetrical scale) you can construct the 3 maj7 chords.
The example here below is using first an Abmaj7 arpeggio and then continuing in a Cmaj7 arpeggio really bringing out the #5(E) and #9(B) over the Abmaj7.
A great Arpeggio Workout!
Here is a great foundation when it comes to working with arpeggios and pentatonic scales on a Jazz Standard:
Get a free E-book
If you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe to my newsletter:
Get the PDF!
You can also download the PDF of my examples here:
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and feel free to connect with me via Instagram, Twitter Google+ or Facebook to keep up to date with new lessons, concerts, and releases.