Chromatic Arpeggios (Part 1)

Here's a simple and effective technique for getting more out of chords.

In the diagram below you see a Major 7th chord  rooted in the tonic of its key (I). It can theoretically be any key, but for our purposes we'll place it on the 10th fret, making it a C Major 7th in the key of C.

The  green  cone shapes indicate the movement starting from a note one fret (half step) below each chord tone, within the  yellow  band — leading chromatically into the chord tones themselves, as shown in the notation.

Played note by note this creates a melodic structure which can be applied in lots of ways and can be a valuable part of your musical vocabulary.

Here are three different positions on the fretboard to play the same arpeggio;

This diagram is in the key of G (G=I).

You can treat any chord this way. Just take the shape of any chord and simply arpeggiate it with the chromatic leading notes preceding each of the chord tones.

I'll explore this subject more in future posts.

... Go to Part 2 ...