In my course, Chord By Chord Blues Soloing, we utilize a lot of arpeggios of Dominant 7th chords (the type of chords most often used in the blues.)

Arpeggios are such a great thing to know, and to be able to play. That I thought I’d give you an introduction to those arpeggios today and let you play some for yourself to try them out.

 

If this is something that seems interesting to you, you really should check out Chord By Chord Blues Soloing, it may be just what you’re looking for if you are soloing a bit already but don’t love the sound.

 

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    39 replies to "Three 7th Arpeggio Shapes You Should Know"

    • JimmyD

      EZ huh?
      Not for me!

    • Steven Daniels

      Great stuff as usual Griff, daily tips and tips greatly appreciated.

    • Frank

      Thanks Griff.

      I am having trouble with arpeggios. I see it as trying to learn a new set of “boxes”. Also, you have stated many times that most solos are typically played on the first four strings. Are we wasting our time attempting to include about 50% of notes that we will most likely rarely use? I would have similar comments with trying to include CAGE notes within a solo (again, more boxes to learn).

      Would it be easier to start with the P scale and expand it by adding specific notes to incorporate the arpeggio (or CAGE) concepts (like adding the “blue note”)?

      Again, thank you for all your hard work in giving to the community. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

    • Tim Moran

      I don’t know what this means, if anything, but I was interested in the way the thirds and flatted seventh line up diagonally on all three shapes. That may make them easier to remember and find, and they are important target notes…

    • Chris W

      Griff, Just a small mis-speak at around 4:50, the C# (4th fret of 5th string ) is the 3rd not the flat 3rd which would make it minor. Enjoyed the lesson, another little piece of the puzzle. Thank you.

    • Rod Woolley

      I think I have understood what Griff was saying. Essentially if you take notes from A7, D7 and E7 when improvising blues you gain three more notes to add to the blues or pentatonic minor scale. Thus Griff advocates learning and practicing three new shapes so you can find those notes easily and quickly.

      Surely however you need to learn five new shapes, because those notes can just as easily be added to any of the five pentatonic patterns that we learn first?

      • Chris W

        By that method, your A minor pent, or A Major pent, (if you were playing it over the whole chord progression) would have different extra notes depending on the chord (hence Arpeggio) being played.
        In this example, You can play the arpeggio from any A, D or E Root note on the fretboard.
        So for instance, a good practice is find an A root, say 12th fret A string, play the arpeggios up one or two octaves, then A minor pent box 5 and 4 back down.
        Then do the same with the D7 Arpeggio from D Root (fret 12 D string or 10 E string), and back on the A minor (or Maj) pent. The Dom 7 Arp adds the Maj 3rd to the minor pent, and the (min)b7 to the Maj pent.
        For me, this makes adding arpeggios to solos really easy. YMMV.
        Hope I got that right.

    • Nick Ballard

      Would like to see some 2-5-1 also.
      Getting interesting….
      Nick

    • sal torina

      I have to agree with Rob Nisonoff, But you did much better in this Lesson. Thanks so much!

    • Dave Delisio

      What a great way to know where the chord tones are! A whole new window just opened for me!
      Thanks Griff

    • Erick Blackwelder

      Very good lesson. Your teaching style is insightful, and simple for this student. I like to view a lesson from start to finish with a guitar in the stand. Next, I pick up a guitar and go through the lesson again, playing along as best I can. If it takes four laps playing along with you for me to “get it”, then so be it.

      • Nick Ballard

        Like this lesson! Easier to follow than some of your contemporaries. At some point our interests in guitar skills have to move on or boredom sets in. Like where you are going….
        Nick

    • tony

      A big WOW man . I believed arpeggios were less than whats going on here. I have used a small part of this idea in a familiar tune which i can hear part of it in the A root . Thanks for this one. This is far from a beginner lesson for sure .

    • Rob Nisonoff

      You’re starting to talk to much before getting to the actual teaching of the lesson. You used to demo the material first, then speak briefly about its importance, then teach.. As a professional teacher that’s a much better method. Get to the lesson as fast as possible. That’s when you shine.

      • lee

        you CAN fast forward

      • Erick Blackwelder

        Rob, with all due respect sir, you are the student, and Griff is the master In this particular lesson. The master knows the most effective way to teach various lessons.

        You, as a professional teacher have your own method of teaching, and Griff has his own method of teaching. I learned what to expect from Griff’s prologue so that I was ready for the lesson. Were I to go to you for the same information, I am confident that your style of teaching would be outstanding and insightful.

      • Griff

        Duly noted, but what I’m showing in this lesson is not a particular lick or song, so there is nothing to demonstrate. I could solo a little with it, but that’s of no use to you, that’s my soloing and I’m not here to show off. This is one of those lessons that requires you to invest in it… that’s just the way it is. I don’t know of any way to demonstrate this concept in 15 seconds before the lesson starts.

    • ian stobbart

      Another great example sir thank you

    • John Brasher

      Not quite seeing the utility of this. Guess I’ll wait for the video on using these in soloing. I have always added notes to the pentatonic, but it would be nice to have a structure that indicated which other notes are good to add.

    • Eel

      I think you just gave your first bass lesson

    • Anthony Ingoglia

      Now I can superimpose the blues scale on top of these and see what notes (positions are added. For me I’ll look at it as the BLUES SCALE-PLUS.

    • Marc

      Great!!!

    • Phil

      Griff, I see you are using a G&L – how do you rate them versus a high end Fender?

      • PAUL

        GREAT LESSON GRIFF. LOVE YOUR G&L. . THERE JUST AS GOOD AS AFENDER, LOVE THE TONE OF THE HUMBUCKER’S.
        I MAKE CUSTOM GUITARS. “DRAGONFIRE CUSTOM WERKS. NOT DRAGONFIRE GUITARS, CHEAP MADE FROM CHINA.
        WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO TRY ONE OF MY GUITARS GRIFF. BEEN BULIDNG THEM SINCE 1998. HAVE A RELIC LOOKING MUSTANG ON REVERB.COM. FOR SALE, VERY CHEAP. JUST FINISHING AN SG TYPE. ALL BLACK HARDWARE,. HAVE 2 TLECASTER AND A STRAT, WITH VINTAGE HOT RAILS. USE ROLLER SADDELES ON ALL MY GUITARS. YOU ALL BE SAFE.
        ACE DRAGON.

        • JimmyD

          It.am a Fender to a certain degree ain’t it? At least I would think Leo would back me up on that. ;÷)

    • jean dominique

      I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN OF THE ARPEGGIOS

    • ChrisGSP

      Hi Griff. Good lesson. You’ve got a link for the Quicktime-format download, but no Windows Media Player format. MP4 is over 250MB, and I think WMA would be a lot smaller than that, as well as working a lot easier for Windows users. I LOVE the PDF with the switching slides – perfect for demonstrating the fingerings and locations of the chord tones in the three variations. Cheers and Merry Christmas from Chris G in Australia.

    • Larry Pitts

      THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO.YOU ARE THE GUY i GO TO.

      Merry Xmas and Happy New Year, from the East Coast.

    • Rick

      Love it! I don’t know how you do it, but every time I have a question you have a video already in my mail box. I was just taking a Django seminar and the instructor suggested “Arpeggio’s and Ornamentation” where the arpeggio’s are what he called “target notes” or “landing notes” and the ornamentation are the hammer on’s, pull off’s ect… then he gave some classic Django ornamentation. I was wondering “how would Griff ornament the arpeggios to make it sound like the blues. I’m hoping this is your next video. Thanks again!

    • MoreFreedom

      Thanks Griff! I can already see and hear how to use those in solos. More patterns to learn, that will come with time.

    • Woody Leduc

      That is a great lesson! I have learned this before but went straight to trying to solo while looking at tabs of arpeggios and just got frustrated. First step, get arpeggios under your fingers as you were doing without looking at fretboard. Off to practice, thx, looking forward to next vid.

    • Chaplain Ed

      Thanks again Griff. Good stuff. Merry Christmas to all on the forum. God bless.

    • Tom Copeland

      Always great teaching. Merry Christmas

    • John strickland

      Surprising! I played the A7th scale and discovered it was the notes to “The First Noel” Happy Accident. Aside from that, I enjoyed the lesson.

    • Larry Peterson

      Ya bud, I’m still crawling, but with this type of help and support I’ll be on my feet walking through the notes soon.Absolutely, thanks for passing on your methods, and exposing us to your skills of playing and most importantly teaching those. Merry Christmas.

    • Ya bud, I'm still crawling , but with of help and support I'll be on my feet walking the notes soon. Absolutely thanks for passing on your skills and methods.

      Ya bud, I’m still crawling, but with type of help and support

    • Dave

      Very well done Griff! Looking forward to seeing how we can apply / use this in our soloing. Thanks

    • Dale

      Great addition to my tired old P scale!
      Many thanks

    • Terry

      Wow fantastic job coach. Hey just one more little piece of the puzzle to fit in. Outstanding..

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