More about the Minor 11th Arpeggio (Part 2)

This form of the Minor 11th arpeggios has the Roots on the 6th string with each Minor 11th topping out on the 3rd string followed by two additional intervals. Notice that the two shapes differ by only the positions of the IV and the VII on the 2nd string.

The Major 7 sharp 11 

In addition to the Minor 11ths, there is one other 11th arpeggio which is built on a symmetrical interval pattern. In the case of the Major7th sharp 11, the pattern is inverted so that it begins and ends with a Major 3rd and has a minor 7th (VI)  at its center.

The interval structure of the Major 7 sharp 11th is: 

Root <major 3rd> 3rd <minor 3rd> 5th <major 3rd> 7th <minor 3rd> 9th <major 3rd> 11th

.

.. which is the only other symmetrical 11th arpeggio aside from the twin minor 11ths. There is only one Major 7 sharp 11 and it 'straddles' the tritone, being rooted in the IV of a key and ending on the VII.

Below you see the arpeggio rooted in F in the key of C major ...

Next let's see the Major 7 sharp 11 as it fits into the symmetry of the Minor 11ths ...

More about the Minor 11th Arpeggio

The Upper and Middle forms of the Minor 11th / Symmetrically Extended Major 7th arpeggio tell an interesting story of the symmetry of the diatonic system on the guitar fretboard in standard tuning.

As the Fretography® method is all about symmetry, the diagrams below lay out that symmetry on two levels. Look for the tonic (Roman numeral I) and where it appears in each form. Also notice the fret axis positions indicated by grey bars. 

The Axis frets are rooted in II (Dorian Axis), III (Phrygian Axis), and VI (Aeolian Axis). 

The yellow curve connects the II positions within the four upper strings.

The boldly outlined reversed "Z" shapes comprise the primary arpeggio forms. The extensions are shown behind with shaded edges. Notice that the upper forms differ only in the position of a single note position in each (VII and IV).

The Middle Form of the arpeggio is centered on a different fulcrum with the Dorian Axis at its outer edges. As with the upper form, the overall skewed symmetry of this form differs by only the positions of the IV and the VII in the extensions.

Again, consider that these arpeggio forms are based on the only instance of a six note interval sequence which occurs twice in every key. There is literally no arpeggio on the fretboard which
contains such clear symmetry over such a wide range both tonally and geometrically.

Next time we'll look at the lower form.

More About the Minor 11th Arpeggio

Apart from and underlying its symmetry on the fretboard, the structure of the twin minor 11th arpeggios is something to think about from a theory perspective.

Understanding this symmetry on its own, away from the fretboard, will strengthen your awareness of the how all arpeggio sequences relate to every key.

(Click image to expand. Downloaded image will be 1600 X 1233 pixels.)

The diagram above shows the symmetrical interval structure of the two minor 11ths. Notice that there is only one instance of two consecutive minor 3rds and no instance of two consecutive major 3rds. Knowing this, you can navigate the fretboard with greater certainty. Think how useful it is simply to know that there are never two consecutive half-steps in a diatonic scale, or how the minor 3rd/whole-step sequence works in a pentatonic scale.

More Ways to Play Minor 11th (Sym-ex Major 7th) Arpeggios

( Continued from: https://fretography.blogspot.com/2017/07/combining-sym-ex-major-7th-arpeggios.html )

Here's another way to play the Minor 11th arpeggio, which is rooted in either the II or the VI of any major key. I call this set of patterns "Lightning Bolt" arpeggios.

Notice that there are three shapes, the two lower forms are identical in shape and the two upper forms are simply rotated 180º from each other. 

Here again, from a previous post, is an overview of the theory behind these arpeggios ...

The concept of "Symmetrically Extended Arpeggios" is part of the Fretography Symmetry in which you can think of certain chords or arpeggios as starting with a central interval and extending both up and down equally. In the case of the Major 7th chord, the interval structure is:

Root <maj3rd> 3rd  <min3rd> 5th <maj3rd> 7th

Notice that the intervals themselves form a symmetrical sequnce; two major 3rds around a central minor 3rd. When this 7th chord is extended to the next 3rd above and below the structure is:

Root <min3rd> 3rd <maj3rd> 5th <min3rd> 7th <maj3rd> 9th <min3rd> 11th

The above diagram shows the A minor 11th and D minor 11th structure and how they are both contain the same extended major 7th forms based on identical interval structure.

Another way to play these arpeggios is to begin and end with a minor 3rd between two strings, unlike the pattern above, which begins and ends with the minor 3rd played on a single string;

 (Low A minor 11th Arpeggio - ascending and descending) 

 (High A minor 11th Arpeggio - ascending and descending) 

As you can see, these patterns span four strings each resulting in three different forms.

Combining 'Sym-Ex.' Major 7th Arpeggios

( This is a continuation of https://fretography.blogspot.com/2017/07/symmetrically-extended-major-7th.html )

The image above shows the two Symmetrically Extended Major 7th arpeggios, each in two different forms. On the left you see the IV/II in the middle voicing (purple) overlapping the upper I/VI (yellow). On the right the middle voicing I/VI (blue) overlaps the IV/II upper voicing (orange).

If you were playing this in the key of C, with "II" placed on the 5th fret of the 5th string, the form on the left could be written:

In the key of Eb, the form on the right would be positioned with "VI" on the 3rd fret of the 5th string:

Keep in mind that the Roman numerals in the diagrams indicate the key degrees of each arpeggio. These numerals remain the same for every key. Since there are two identical Extended Major 7th arpeggios (or minor 11ths) in each key, the only way to determine their relative positions is to decide which is the I/VI and which is the IV/II.

Also, notice that these arpeggios happen within specific "Zones" as detailed in my book "Fretography."

Another interesting combination is the lower forms with the upper forms of the same scale degree:

Here, you'll see that in the lower forms — rooted in the 6th string — both the I/VI and the IV/II are connected to the upper forms in the same geometry. 

We'll place the first grouping in the key of C as shown in the notation above. The next, we'll put in the key of G, as per the notation below:

Look carefully at the notes in both above examples. You'll notice they are the same. But their context it different within the key and will result in different possibilities in each depending on the additional chords and riffs in a particular piece of music.

Here's what they sound like ...

 (Low A minor 11th Arpeggio - ascending and descending) 

 (High A minor 11th Arpeggio - ascending and descending) 

Because this form can exist in an identical form within two different tonal contexts, it is a dynamic bit of riffage to have in your vocabulary.

Symmetrically Extended (Sym Extended) Major 7th Arpeggios

Before working on this exercise, I recommend you review the previous posts on "3rd Rail Chord Symmetries":

3rd Rail Chord Symmetries (Part 1)

3rd Rail Chord Symmetries (Part 2)

3rd Rail Chord Symmetries (Part 3)

3rd Rail Chord Symmetries (Part 4)

The concept of "Symmetrically Extended Arpeggios" is part of the Fretography Symmetry in which you can think of certain chords or arpeggios as starting with a central interval and extending both up and down equally. In the case of the Major 7th chord, the interval structure is:

Root <maj3rd> 3rd  <min3rd> 5th <maj3rd> 7th

Notice that the intervals themselves form a symmetrical sequnce; two major 3rds around a central minor 3rd. When this 7th chord is extended to the next 3rd above and below the structure is:

Root <min3rd> 3rd <maj3rd> 5th <min3rd> 7th <maj3rd> 9th <min3rd> 11th

In the above diagram the F maj7 chord is shown with the notes D below it and G above it. The D could be thought of as a 13th. So rather than the entire arpeggio being a D minor 11th, we could describe it as a F major 9th/D or a "major 9/13 chord." I prefer "Sym. Extended Maj7th."

As you can see, the symmetry continues as a minor 3rd is added at both ends of the original major 7th chord.  The major 7th is now formally a minor 11th. This chord occurs on the 2nd and 6th degree of any major key. For instance, in the key of C major the two minor 11th chords are D min 11th and A min 11th. The D min 11th contains the F maj7th, the A min 7th contains the C maj 7th. When this sequence is arranged on the fret board across four consecutive strings it forms an "S" shape as shown in the diagrams below. 

These diagrams apply to any key you choose. The Roman numerals indicate the key degrees: 

We will refer to these arpeggios as "Symmetrically Extended Major 7ths" because the central four notes remain the most accessible — as a group — on the fretboard all at once. In the upper four strings, as shown above, the shape is perfectly symmetrical and occurs within the VII zone and the III zone.

Moving to the four middle strings the shape changes to a less symmetrical geometry and aligns in the III zone and VI zone as shown below:

In the four low strings the shape is once again symmetrical, positioned within the VI zone and the II zone as shown below:

In the next post we'll examine ways of combining these forms with each other and with other musical structures.

The III Zone Arpeggio

Previously, we've looked at the Center Zone Arpeggio and the VII Zone Arpeggio. Now we'll look at the III zone.

In the Key of C, this zone is the first pattern on the fretboard anchored in the open strings. Of course, like all the other zone patterns, it can be shifted up the fretboard for each key. The shape of the pattern is the same no matter what fret position it's played. You only need to adjust your fingering from the open position to the moveable version.

Notice that there are two arpeggios shown in the diagram, one delineated in green, one in the background in grey (the "shadow arpeggio"). Play them both all the way through, then use the notation below to play each as a "coil" — three notes at a time, returning to the 2nd note of the previous 3 note sequence, etc. There are sound files below the diagram for reference.

The green pattern begins on the 3rd scale degree (E in the key of C Major) and finishes on the 5th scale degree (G in C Major). The grey pattern begins and ends on F, the 4th scale degree of C Major. 

(The fingering shown is for the open position. Since this pattern has a 4-fret-span, when playing it anywhere but the open position, just use one-finger-per-fret alignment and don't shift your hand within the pattern.)

(III Zone Arpeggio - ascending and descending)

(III Zone Shadow Arpeggio - ascending and descending)

(III Zone Arpeggio Coil - ascending and descending)

(III Zone Shadow Arpeggio Coil  - ascending and descending)

Center SuperZone Arpeggio

This big pattern straddles the center of the fretboard and is the primary arpeggio form of a major key in the Fretography method. It is rooted in the Dominant degree; the V of the key, and ends on the VII.

It is shown here in the key of C, but as with all the Fretography patterns, is the same geometry for any key.  

The shadow arpeggio (running from A on the 6th string to A on the 1st string in the background) is shown for reference. As an exercise, try playing the primary (green) arpeggio form ascending and the shadow descending, then reverse the sequence. 

The note sequence is:

Ascending:  G B D F A C E G B   ... Descending:  A F D B G E C A 

Then:

Ascending:  A C E G B D F A    ... Descending:  B G E C A F D B G 

This pattern requires several hand shifts and so it is difficult to play fast, but that makes it a great exercise to develop your control and precision.  Follow the indicated fingering (black numbers for the primary shape, white numbers apply to the shadow).

Here's how it sounds:

(Ascending Center Arpeggio)

(Descending Shadow Arpeggio)

(Ascending Shadow Arpeggio)

(Descending Center Arpeggio)

And here's a related arpeggio pattern in an earlier post: "The VII Zone Arpeggio"

5ths and 3rds in the 3rd Rail

Here's an exercise which will give you some useful raw material for riffing. The pattern is a sequence of 5ths and 3rds played sequentially on the 3rds and 2nd strings, otherwise known as the "3rd rail."

The diagram below shows the Perfect-5ths in blue, Diminished-5th in purple, Minor-3rds in orange, and, Major-3rds in green ...

Below you see the notation for the pattern with corresponding fingering ...

And here is how it sounds ...

(5ths and 3rds in the 3rd rail)
... and played note by note, each of the 5ths are played high note first, each 3rd is played low to high ...


(Arpeggiated 5ths and 3rds in the 3rd rail)

Here's a phrase based on the pattern in the key of D minor ...


(Key of D minor: 5ths and 3rds in the 3rd rail)