How to Play Arpeggios in Jazz Guitar

Part of the Video Series How to Play Jazz Guitar

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Learn how to play arpeggios in jazz guitar from a recording artist in this free music lesson video.

Contact: www.dustinplumb.net

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Tags: jazz fingering, jazz guitar, jazz picking, jazz sound, jazz swing, jazz techniques
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Posted by EmilyT on Wednesday, 29 November, 2006 at 8:47 AM

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Best practice is to arpeggiate just the major scale in your root position, say C major, low E, 8th fret, then move through the keys using the circle of fifths C G D A E B Gb Db Ab Eb Bb F So, your next key would be G major. Your closest root for G major is on the A string, 10th fret, so your scalar shape will change. When you go on to the next key - D major 10th fret low E string - you wil use the same shape you used for C Major. You'll notice that you only use two scale shapes as you move through all 12 major keys. It works this way for all scales and modes, where you use one shape for the scale or mode when it is rooted off of the low E string, and another when it is rooted off of the A string. Use this method to move through all scales and modes.

Posted by Martunes on Saturday, 11 November, 2006 at 5:40 PM

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I like this idea - do you try arpeggiate all the scale degrees in the same position?

Video Transcript

How to Play Arpeggios in Jazz Guitar
Hello! My name is Dustin, and I am going to talk about the arpeggio. A big part of the jazz solo is the arpeggiated sound. As oppose to scalar, or stepwise movement, where you hit notes next to each other and move through a scale, not skipping notes along the way, arpeggios allow you to skip around and highlight chords within the scalar mode. Here is the difference between a scalar run… and an arpeggiated run... try practicing your scales in the swung 8th note pattern… then to practice the arpeggios within that scale, in this swung 8th note pattern, start with let us say C major, start in the first note of the scale and hit every other note on the way up… then go to the second note, which would be a D and do the same thing… then do it descending from the top… do that up and down the neck in all of your scales and modes, and in no time you will start to see the chords within the scales and modes really well, make sure also that your alternate picking when you are doing these arpeggios, so that you keep track of the down beat and keep your notes nice and evenly separated.

About the Expert

Expert: Dustin Plumb is a recording artist, who has a Bachelors' in Music from the University of Oregon. He resides in Las Vegas where he runs a sound design company called DP creative. Read More