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The Minor Major 7 Arpeggio contains the following:

1 – b3 – 5 – 7

This arpeggio (and chord) is noticeable in sound because of the fact that it contains a flat 3rd (making it a minor chord/arpeggio) but also contains a natural 7 (as opposed to a flat 7).

This gives the arpeggio a slightly more dissonant sound which can be used to create tension and interest.

As with all scales and arpeggios, we want to learn 5 movable shapes up and down the fretboard for the minor major 7 arpeggio. Let’s look at the 5 shapes, using C minor major 7 as the example arpeggio:

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In this lesson, we are going to look at a study, which involves playing arpeggios over a 12 Bar Blues.

You can learn to play this study without knowing the theory behind it, but you will get the most out of this lesson if you understand the concept of arpeggios and observe how the arpeggios are being used.

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In this lesson we are going to look at interpreting scale/arpeggio shapes and discuss the best way to practice them.

What does a shape look like?

Here is a typical looking shape. It is actually the shape of a major scale. It is essentially a diagram of frets and strings, with fingers being represented by circles containing numbers.

The strings are set out vertically, with the 1st string to the far right and the 6th string to the far left.

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I’ve already written extensively about the importance of major scales. There are already posts on understanding major scales and links to playing the shapes up and down the fretboard in every key.

This lesson is really a summary. It is designed to be a practical guide to learning major scales thoroughly.

Know the Theory

It is important to have a general idea of what major scales are, how they are used and why they are important. We are not going to get into the theory in this lesson, but if you need to brush up, read the following post:

A Complete Guide To Major Scales On The Guitar

Know the Interval Structure

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In this lesson we’re going to make soup. Musical soup of course. A delicious soup of the dorian mode variety. But first, let’s talk a little bit about scales and modes in general.

The Problem with Scales/Modes:

The problem with scales and modes is that they can be hard to use musically without a clear sense of direction. It’s quite easy to learn to play the mode (shape, notes, theory etc.) but how do you make it sound cool? Playing the mode from one octave to the next sounds ok, but a little boring and predictable. So what can you do? Play as many notes in random order as long as the fit with the scale/mode? While this is a common approach, it usually sounds very unmusical.

What’s the Solution?

Enter the soup analogy. Think of the notes in a scale or mode as having a certain flavor. Not every note is equal but each has its own unique flavor. There are the main ingredients (the chicken, corn, water, etc.) and there are also the ingredients that are used to add interest, or spice, or a bit of a ‘kick’.

In this lesson we are going explore the dorian mode using the chicken and corn soup approach. Of course, we could apply this to any scale or mode, each with its unique flavors. But in this lesson, we will look at the dorian mode.

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