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.