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Jazz

Improvising with Mini-Arpeggios Part II
by Paul Musso

My last article dealt with one of the most confusing tasks for beginning jazz guitarists - using arpeggios to improvise. I looked at a big problem that most young guitarists face when playing arpeggios: playing two-octave arpeggios. Remember that the problem with learning these arpeggios on the lower strings is that there is an inclination to start the arpeggio in the lower octave. The mini-arpeggio solves this problem by starting the root notes in the mid to upper register of the guitar.

It's always good to review the basic mini-arpeggio fingerings. Here are the root-4 mini-arpeggio fingerings for the five basic seventh chords, starting on the root note G.

Here are the root-3 mini-arpeggio fingerings for the five basic seventh chords, starting on the root note C.

The last article dealt with utilizing approach tones from below to create interesting and effective melodic lines. It also covered changing the usual note order (R 3 5 7) to make the arpeggio more interesting and less predictable.

The next step is to examine approach tones from above. One of the simplest melodic devices is to approach each chord tone from a half step above.

Here is the same G triad that I used in the last article with half-step approach tones from above rather than half step approach tones from below. I only used the first and second fingers of the left hand for this melody; feel free to use any finger combination that feels more comfortable.

Notice how "exotic" this melody is. This is because the melody is reminiscent of the Phrygian mode. The Phrygian mode is often used to improvise over two major triads that are one half step apart - G G#. This lick contains both triads. It also contains the five of the seven notes in a G Phrygian scale:

You may find this sound a bit to "altered" if you were playing over a G6 or GMaj7, however; this lick would be excellent if the chord was G7#5 or G7b9. The Ab and D# would be wonderful note choices in this "altered-dominant" application.

Because of this altered sound, many improvisers elect to use diatonic steps from above. This sound is more conducive to playing over the G chord as a I chord (GMaj7, G6) or over a G7 in a blues context. This next example uses diatonic steps from above so: A precedes G, E precedes D and C precedes B.

One commonly used device when expanding the use of the mini-arpeggio, in the triad setting, is to play the diatonic whole step above and the chromatic half step below. Notice how sophisticated this melody starts to sound. All I am doing is surrounding the triad by whole steps above and half steps below.

In the first article, I talked about changing note order so that the arpeggio isn't always played Root 3rd 5th. If I apply that rule to this lick, I could come up with some very interesting melodic ideas. The next example follows this chord tone order: 3rd Root 5th.

This example moves in fifths by following this chord tone order: Root 5th 3rd Root.

Now it's time to put these upper approach tones into some jazz motifs that incorporate the seventh chord mini-arpeggio. This lick is based on one of the examples from the last article.

I can add a diatonic approach tone above one note in this lick to make it a little more intricate and more stylistically jazz sounding. The pickup note G is a diatonic step above the chord tone F.

The next step is to apply these upper approach tones to the first two bars of a G blues progression. In the last article, I talked about using a similar melodic contour when changing from one arpeggio to the next. I will use this same concept to create melodic continuity. The first example uses diatonic steps from above.

If I use chromatic, half step from above approach tones on this same example, the line becomes more altered and exotic.

This next example uses several different approach tone concepts to create two more motifs for the first two bars of a G blues progression. This line uses a half step below idea (Bb -B) as well as two diatonic approach tones from above (E-D A-G). Notice also how the second bar, played over C7, is not an exact copy of the first bar when it comes to intervals and melodic contour. The second bar hints at the first bar as a logical answer to the question posed by the first bar - like a call and response.