How to Make Arpeggios Sound Like Jazz Over a Major 7 Chord: 3 Arpeggios and a Language Recipe

Short answer: Arpeggios sound boring and contrived when you don't practice and improvise with them the right way. Over a major 7 chord like CMaj.7, use three arpeggios: CMaj.7 (C, E, G, B), E-7 (E, G, B, D, which you can think of as CMaj.9) and A-7 (A, C, E, G, which you can think of as C6). Then use what I call a language recipe: ascend the arpeggio from the lowest note you can play in position, then descend the C major scale two notes per string, skipping F, the avoid note. Starting on the 3rd or the major 7th on the downbeat usually sounds better than starting on the root or 5th.

Here's the problem: arpeggios can sound really boring and contrived if you don't know how to practice them and improvise with them correctly. My goal in this lesson is to show you three easy arpeggios you can use over any major 7 chord, and how to use them in a way that actually sounds good. ▶ 0:00

To do that, we use what I call a language recipe: a recipe for building musical language. It connects the arpeggios to the chord shapes and to the picking technique, because random ideas that don't work together won't level up your playing. ▶ 0:20

The language recipe: up the arpeggio, down the scale

The recipe for this lesson is simple: ascend an arpeggio, then descend down the scale using two notes per string as your goal. A couple of times you'll have to break that with a pull-off, but essentially it's two notes per string of the scale you're in. We do it in C major. ▶ 1:13

An arpeggio is simply a chord where, instead of playing all the notes together, you play them one after another. Chords are built in thirds, so arpeggios are built in thirds too. ▶ 1:45

The background harmony here is a C major chord that lasts a while. You see this in songs like "Take the A Train," where there's a major chord for a long period of time. That's just to get the general concept; there are many ways to apply it. ▶ 2:00

Rule: start on the 3rd or the 7th, not the root or 5th

Start the arpeggio from the lowest place you can play it in position. In the first position that's the low E string, and the lowest note of CMaj.7 there is E. ▶ 2:24

One way arpeggios sound bad is when you start on the root or the 5th on the downbeat (here, C or G). It's not always the case, but in general I've found it usually sounds better to start on the 3rd or the major 7th on the downbeat. It tends to work better for most lines. ▶ 2:46

Arpeggio 1: CMaj.7 (first position)

Start on the low E and go up the CMaj.7 arpeggio. ▶ 3:19

When you come down, all three examples in this position use the same descending pattern. At the top of the arpeggio, play two more notes descending. That keeps your picking correct, down-up, because you've played four notes total on that string. From there, play two notes per string in the C major scale: E, D, C, B, G, E, then C and B. ▶ 3:26

You could have picked B and A instead of C and B. But don't pick the F: when you're playing in a major key, you generally avoid the 4th of that key. In C major that's F, and it's known as an avoid note. So on that string you only have G and E, then C and B. ▶ 3:59

Hear the whole line. ▶ 4:28

Arpeggio 2: E-7 (think CMaj.9)

The second arpeggio you can use over CMaj.7 is E-7: E, G, B and D. It has the same three notes as CMaj.7 (E, G, B), but instead of C you replace the root with the 9th, D. So you can think of it as an E-7 arpeggio or as CMaj.9, where your root becomes a 9th. Either way works. ▶ 4:40

Play E-7 from the lowest possible note, E, on the way up, then the same descending line as before. ▶ 5:18

Arpeggio 3: A-7 (think C6)

The third arpeggio is A-7: A, C, E and G. It shares three notes with CMaj.7 (C, E, G), and the A replaces the 5th of C major (G) with the 6th. So you can think of it as A-7 or as a C6 arpeggio. ▶ 5:58

Again, start on the lowest note, E. I use my pinky on this one. Then go into the same descending portion. ▶ 6:28

So over CMaj.7, what you practice in this position is the CMaj.7, E-7 and A-7 arpeggios, each with the same descending pattern. ▶ 6:53

The master line: connect all three

For this position there's also a master line that's more vocabulary-oriented. It's not an exercise; you could use it as an actual line. It has more chromaticism and throws in other bebop-type language approaches, and it works through the CMaj.7 arpeggio, then E-7, then back to CMaj.7. You could also change that last CMaj.7 into A-7. ▶ 7:07

The second position

The same concept works in a second position. The C major voicing there is G, C, E and B; you can think of it like an A-9. ▶ 8:29

• CMaj.7: the lowest note in this position is B, so go B, C, E, G, B, C, E, G, B. One string has only three notes, so play B and C as an up pick, then a pull-off, to keep with the picking technique. Then descend two notes per string. Some notes I pull off just for the phrasing, but you can pick each one down-up, or pull off when it feels right to you. ▶ 8:52
• E-7 (E, G, B, D): the lowest note is B again. Keep the same descending pattern. For the C, most people will find the pinky easier to reach; sometimes I use my third finger. ▶ 9:58
• A-7: start on the lowest note, A: A, C, E, G, A, C, E, G, A, C, then pull off to B and into the same descending portion. ▶ 10:39

The master line in this position starts with a rest, an eighth note into a triplet on CMaj.7, then approaches the E-7 arpeggio (E, G, B, D) with a chromatic note, then approaches A-7 with the same chromatic idea, and ends targeting E, D to B, C. ▶ 11:02

The other three positions, the master line for each position and five bonus lines are in the PDF for this lesson, along with the picking and fingering. ▶ 8:29

Frequently asked questions

What arpeggios can I play over a major 7 chord?

Over CMaj.7, this lesson uses three: CMaj.7 itself (C, E, G, B), E-7 (E, G, B, D), which works like CMaj.9, and A-7 (A, C, E, G), which works like C6. Each one shares three notes with CMaj.7.

Why do my arpeggios sound boring?

Usually because they're practiced and improvised with the wrong way: just running the chord tones. Turn them into language: ascend the arpeggio, then descend the scale two notes per string, and start on the 3rd or the 7th on the downbeat instead of the root or 5th.

Which note should an arpeggio start on?

In general, starting on the root or the 5th on the downbeat tends to sound bad. Starting on the 3rd or the major 7th usually sounds better for most lines, though it's not always the case.

Why avoid the F over a C major 7 chord?

In a major key you generally avoid the 4th of the key, known as the avoid note. In C major that's F, so the descending line over CMaj.7 skips it.

What is the language recipe?

A recipe for building musical language. In this lesson: ascend an arpeggio from the lowest note in position, then descend the scale two notes per string, using pull-offs when a string has an odd number of notes.

Keep learning

• Jazz guitar arpeggio workout through the ii-V in all keys: the next step once major 7 arpeggios feel easy
• Your first ii-V-I line on jazz guitar, plus 7 variations: turn arpeggios and scale steps into a line over the changes
• How to play faster with downward pick slanting: the right-hand mechanics behind clean down-up picking

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Chase Maddox is a jazz guitarist and educator in Miami and the founder of Chase's Guitar Academy. George Benson has called him "an amazing instructor." More free lessons are on his YouTube channel.