Lesson 37 · Part 6, Jazz blues and the capstone

Arpeggios over the changes

An arpeggio is the chord itself, played one note at a time — every note right, and none of them right for longer than the chord lasts.

One scale over twelve bars is the deal you have been taking since Part 2: five notes that work well enough over all three chords, and never perfectly over any of them. An arpeggio is the opposite deal. It is the four notes of the chord and nothing else, so while that chord is sounding there is no wrong note in your hand at all — and the moment it changes, every one of them is suspect.

A7’s own four notes, through twelve bars

1A72A73A74A75D76D77A78A79E710D711A712E7A1A rests over A7A rests over A7A rests over A7A rests over A7A rests over D7A rests over D7A rests over A7A rests over A7A leans onto G♯ over E7A rests over D7A rests over A7A leans onto G♯ over E7Bin E7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over D7B sits outside over D7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over A7B is the chord’s own note over E7B sits outside over D7B sits outside over A7B is the chord’s own note over E7Cin D7C sits outside over A7C sits outside over A7C sits outside over A7C sits outside over A7C is the chord’s own note over D7C is the chord’s own note over D7C sits outside over A7C sits outside over A7C sits outside over E7C is the chord’s own note over D7C sits outside over A7C sits outside over E7C♯3C♯ rests over A7C♯ rests over A7C♯ rests over A7C♯ rests over A7C♯ leans onto C over D7C♯ leans onto C over D7C♯ rests over A7C♯ rests over A7C♯ passes through over E7C♯ leans onto C over D7C♯ rests over A7C♯ passes through over E7Din D7, E7D sits outside over A7D sits outside over A7D sits outside over A7D sits outside over A7D is the chord’s own note over D7D is the chord’s own note over D7D sits outside over A7D sits outside over A7D is the chord’s own note over E7D is the chord’s own note over D7D sits outside over A7D is the chord’s own note over E7E5E rests over A7E rests over A7E rests over A7E rests over A7E passes through over D7E passes through over D7E rests over A7E rests over A7E rests over E7E passes through over D7E rests over A7E rests over E7F♯in D7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ is the chord’s own note over D7F♯ is the chord’s own note over D7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over E7F♯ is the chord’s own note over D7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over E7G♭7G rests over A7G rests over A7G rests over A7G rests over A7G leans onto F♯ over D7G leans onto F♯ over D7G rests over A7G rests over A7G bends up over E7G leans onto F♯ over D7G rests over A7G bends up over E7G♯in E7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over D7G♯ sits outside over D7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ is the chord’s own note over E7G♯ sits outside over D7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ is the chord’s own note over E7

A rests over A7 A rests over A7 A rests over A7 A rests over A7 A rests over D7 A rests over D7 A rests over A7 A rests over A7 A leans onto G♯ over E7 A rests over D7 A rests over A7 A leans onto G♯ over E7

Read along the A row: it rests over A7, rests over D7 and leans onto G♯ over E7. A filled disc is a note you can stop on, a smaller one passes through, a tick under it leans onto the note below, a tick over it bends up into the note above, a diamond is a note the chord has and the scale does not and a small dot is a note that belongs to neither.

Your four notes are the rows with a degree beside them — 1, 3, 5 and ♭7 — and over the I every one of them is a filled disc: the chord and the notes are the same thing. Over the IV two of them lean. Over the V the root leans and the ♭7 bends, which is Part 2’s blue note arriving over the one chord in the form that makes it one. The other rows are notes the IV and the V bring that A7 does not have.

None of that is a warning about arpeggios. It is the reason they work — an arpeggio tells you exactly when the harmony moved, which a scale is designed not to do.

Three chords, one hand position

The obvious objection is that this means learning three shapes instead of one. It does, and they are all in the same place.

The I

EADGBE5678910135♭71355♭713

Position 2 covers frets 5–9 and holds eleven notes.

This position covers frets 5 to 9, and every note of A Dominant 7th lies under one hand there. Four positions like it cover the whole neck, and this is Position 2.

The IV

EADGBE56789105♭7135♭7135♭7

Position 2 covers frets 5–9 and holds ten notes.

This position covers frets 5 to 9, and every note of D Dominant 7th lies under one hand there. Four positions like it cover the whole neck, and this is Position 2.

The V

EADGBE45678935♭7135♭7135

Position 1 covers frets 4–8 and holds ten notes.

This position covers frets 4 to 8, and every note of E Dominant 7th lies under one hand there. Four positions like it cover the whole neck, and this is Position 1.

Read the fret numbers under the three. Two of them cover frets five to nine and the third covers four to eight — which is the box you have played in since Part 2, give or take a fret. You are not moving up the neck to play the changes. You are staying where you are and changing which four of those frets you use.

Start by playing nothing but roots, one to a bar, then roots and thirds, then all four. The thirds are the notes that make it obvious the chord moved, which is the same thing the last lesson said from the other direction.

This lesson was drafted with the help of AI, so it may contain a mistake. Its diagrams are drawn by Everyfret’s own software. How Everyfret is made