A Major 7 arpeggio takes the notes of a Major 7 chord and plays them one at a time instead of all together.

Because these notes come directly from the chord, arpeggios can help you create melodic ideas that clearly follow the harmony underneath.

In this lesson, you’ll learn the Major 7 arpeggio formula, several movable shapes, and ways to apply them in your improvising.

Understanding Major 7 Arpeggios

A Major 7 arpeggio contains the same four notes as a Major 7 chord: 1, 3, 5, and 7.

For example, C Major 7 contains C, E, G, and B. When you play those notes individually as a melodic line, you’re playing a C Major 7 arpeggio.

Here is the formula for Major 7 chords below.

Roadmap practice: Play a C Major scale and identify the 1, 3, 5, and 7: C, E, G, and B. Play only those four notes up and down and listen to how clearly they outline a C Major 7 chord.

Now that you know what notes belong to the Major 7 chord structure, let’s look at how to read the chord charts.

How to read the chord charts

For the chord charts below:

• The top horizontal line of the chord chart represents the high E string and the bottom horizontal line represents the low E string.
• The vertical lines separate each fret.
• The green dots represent the root note.

You can check this link for more on how to read guitar notation symbols.

The shapes below give you several ways to find Major 7 arpeggio tones across the fretboard. Start with one shape that feels comfortable, then return to the others as you expand into different areas of the neck.

Major 7 arpeggio shape 1

Here is the first shape with the root note starting on the 6th string. You can use any root note to play these examples but we will cover application examples later in this post.

For the following charts, the left side shows you the suggested fingering for an arpeggio and the right side shows you what chord tones you are playing.

Roadmap practice: Play Shape 1 slowly and say the chord tones as you go: 1, 3, 5, 7. Then play it descending and keep track of where the root notes are inside the shape.

Roadmap practice: Move the same arpeggio shape to one other root. Name the new Major 7 chord before you play, then keep the same 1, 3, 5, 7 relationships inside the shape.

Major 7 arpeggio shape 2

Here is a second way to play a Major 7 arpeggio with the root on the 6th string. This shape requires a wider stretch between the fingers.

Major 7 arpeggio shape 3

Here is another Major 7 arpeggio shape with the root on the 6th string.

Major 7 arpeggio shape 4

Now, here is the Major 7 arpeggio shape with the root note starting on the 5th string.

Major 7 arpeggio shape 5

Major 7 arpeggio shape 6

This arpeggio shape blends the last two shapes.

Once your first shape is comfortable, choose one neighboring shape from this section and compare where the same 1, 3, 5, and 7 chord tones appear.

The fretboard diagrams below show how the shapes connect across the neck in several keys. Use them as a map when you want to move beyond one position.

All arpeggio shapes on the fretboard

To help you connect all the shapes we learned, here are all the arpeggio shapes on the fretboard using a C Major 7 chord arpeggio.

C Major 7 arpeggios

Roadmap practice: Find your original C Major 7 arpeggio shape on the full fretboard map. Then locate one neighboring position and play a short line that starts in the first shape and finishes in the second.

E Major 7 arpeggios

Here are all the arpeggio shapes on the fretboard using an E Major 7 chord arpeggio.

G Major 7 arpeggios

Here are all the arpeggio shapes on the fretboard using a G Major 7 chord arpeggio.

Major 7 arpeggio application examples

Now, we’ll look at some application examples of using arpeggios over a C Major 7 chord. You can listen to each example below the notation with tabs.

The examples below show how Major 7 arpeggio tones can become musical phrases rather than exercises. Start with the examples that use the chord tones directly, then explore the later examples for additional sounds.

Application example 1

This first example uses an ascending four note pattern using only the C Major 7 chord tones: C, E, G, and B.

Application example 2

Next, we have a similar example as the previous one except we’re playing a descending four note pattern.

Roadmap practice: Play the C Major 7 arpeggio over a C Major 7 chord or backing track. Instead of continuously running the shape up and down, stop on different chord tones, change the rhythm, and leave space between short ideas.

Application example 3

Once the Major 7 chord tones are clear, you can connect them with nearby scale or chromatic notes. The arpeggio tones still give the phrase its harmonic foundation.

Roadmap practice: Create a short phrase that begins and ends on Major 7 arpeggio tones, then add one nearby scale note between them.

The final examples show another application: using an arpeggio from a different chord to highlight extensions over the harmony underneath.

Application example 4

Here, a G Major 7 arpeggio is played over C Major 7. Its notes G, B, D, and F# become the 5, 7, 9, and #11 of C, creating a Lydian color.

Application example 5

This last example also uses a G Major 7 arpeggio with a descending note and rhythm pattern.

Roadmap practice: Put on a Major 7 chord or simple backing track. Use one Major 7 arpeggio shape to create two short phrases. In the first, use only arpeggio tones. In the second, keep the same chord tones as your targets but connect them with one or two nearby scale notes.

Wrapping up

Major 7 arpeggios give you the 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the chord as individual notes you can use melodically.

Start with one movable shape, keep track of the chord tones inside it, and use those notes to create short phrases over a Major 7 chord.

From there, the additional shapes, connected fretboard maps, and later examples in this lesson give you more ways to create melodic ideas and explore different sounds over Major 7 chords.

Next, we’ll apply the same approach to another 7th-chord arpeggio quality.

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