Guitar Encyclopedia Music Theory

Reading Instruction

HS = Half steps, dom = dominant, maj = major, min = minor, dim = diminished, aug = augmented, lower case letters = chord tones, capitals = arpeggio tones, b3 = minor third, b7 = flat seventh, bb7 = diminished seventh, j7 = major seventh, #11 = sharp eleventh, * = enharmonic shift

Read the tables above as in the following examples:
4. Over a major 7 chord, move up 4 half steps, play a minor 7th arpeggio, get a major 9 chord (Amaj9)
5. Over a dominant 7 chord, move up 4 half steps, play a minor 7th b5 arpeggio, get a dominant 9 chord (A9)
6. Over a minor 7 chord, move up 3 half steps, play a major 7th arpeggio, get a minor 9th chord (Am9)
7. Over a minor 7b5 chord, keep the same root, play a minor 7th b5 arpeggio, get a minor 7b5 chord (Am7b5)
8. Over a diminished 7 chord, move up 3 half steps, play a diminished 7th arpeggio, get a diminished 7 chord (Adim7)

If you'd like to jam over a static drone, click the chord name in the numbered subtitle. To hear the process of superimposing an arpeggio over a chord, click on the new chord name and a sound file will play. In the video, you can see and hear all the possibilities in a continuous way. To skip playback to a different chord, check the description of the video for the starting point.