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Welcome to this in depth lesson on arpeggio substitution. I hope that after reading this lesson you will understand all there is to know about arpeggio substitution and start using this great device in your own music. Substituting arpeggios over chords is a great way to add some interest to your solos and make you sound more interesting. You can substitute simple arpeggios shapes over fairly boring chords and create some really interesting and complex sounding harmonies.

The first thing we learn to do with arpeggios is to play the arpeggio over it’s related chord. For example when we learn a Cmajor7 arpeggio our first thought is that it should be played over a Cmaj7 chord. While this is a great way to outline a chord progression if we use this idea too often it quickly becomes boring to listen to. We can use substitutions to make the plain Cmaj7 chord sound like a more complex chord like Cmaj9, Cmaj13 etc.

Lets first look at some of the possibilities available to us and then we shall look at some of the most common arpeggio substitutions in more depth. In our first example we will look at the options available to us by substituting arpeggios from the diatonic scale over a minor seven chord to give you an idea of how arpeggio substitution works.

Over a Dm7 chord the most obvious choice of scale to play over it would be a D Dorian scale or a Dm7 arpeggio. This is fine but if we have to play over this minor seven chord for a long period of time these two musical ideas will start to sound boring and predictable so we need a way of finding which arpeggios we can play over this Dm7 chord to make it sound more interesting.

First we will look at the D Dorian scale and see what arpeggios are hiding within it. The notes of D Dorian scale are D, E, F, G, A, B, C and from it we get the following arpeggios by taking the first, third, fifth and seventh notes.

Dm7 (D F A C)

Em7 (E G B D)

Fmaj7 (F A C E)

G7 (G B D F)

Am7 (A C E G)

Bm7b5 (B D F A)

Cmaj7 (C E G B)

Okay now we have our arpeggios we can play any one of these over a Dm7 chord for a more interesting sound. You may be wondering why we can’t just use the D Dorian scale over the whole thing and the simple answer is that we want to break away from just playing scales and start creating more melodic and interesting solos. If you just play the scale over this chord progression is will start to sound very predictable and will not grab the listener’s attention.

All the substitutions we have look at so far have been Diatonic and all came from the most obvious scale. We can also substitute arpeggios from the Melodic minor and Harmonic minor scales to create a much more exotic and jazzy type of sound. In fact most of the jazz bebop sound is that of arpeggio substitution to create interesting implied harmony.

Common substitutions

We shall now look at some of the most common arpeggio substitutions.

1.) Min7 arpeggio played on the 3rd degree of a major chord

This creates a major9 type sound. For example we could play and Em7 arpeggio over a Cmaj7 chord to create a Cmaj9 sound. This is because the Em7 arpeggio contains the D note which is the major 9 of C.

2.) Min7 arpeggio played on the 6th degree of a major chord

This is another common substitution. If we were to play an Am7 chord over a Cmaj7 we would get a C6 type sound.

3.) Major7 arpeggios played on the b3rd degree of the a minor chord

This substitution is used to create a minor9 type sound. If we are playing over a Cmin7 chord for example, we can build a major7 chord off the b3rd degree which in this case is Eb. So if we play an Ebmaj7 arpeggio over a Cmin chord we get a Cmin9 type sound.

4.) Diminished 7 arpeggio played on the 3rd degree of the dominant chord

This is a great sounding substitution which creates a 7b9 type sound. For example try playing an Edim7 arpeggio over a C7 chord to imply a C7b9 tonality.

Try some of these examples for yourself and see how much more interesting your solos become once you start using arpeggio substitution. Adding these ideas into your own sound is a great way to start developing some jazz and fusion type licks.

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1) Know the genre you want to learn for improvisation.

One of the best ways to find out the genre that appeals to you is by listening to a few styles (i.e. jazz, blues, rock, folk, country, pop, etc.). The ones that stick in your mind are the ones to start off with. Like with anything you learn, learning becomes easier when you’re interested in it. As you listen to the various styles, one thing to keep in mind is that the blues genre relates to most all the other genres. For that reason, if you learn to improvise in the blues genre, it will ultimately end up helping you improvise across all the genres.

2) Build up a foundation of jazz guitar licks and riffs.

Successful players have built up a memorized library of licks and riffs. During their jazz guitar lessons, they have absorbed and practiced these licks from a variety of sources so that when it comes time to perform solo or lend an improvisation, they are ready to practice and apply what they have learned. Improvisation becomes easy because they know how to blend tunes on their gypsy jazz guitar.

3) Knowing the scales is the foundation for improvisation.

No jazz guitar player can improvise without knowing their instrument and how to craft the melodies together. When learning to play jazz guitar, you can’t ignore this important step. You don’t have to learn all the scales. In fact learning just a few scales like the major scale and the blues scale will be sufficient for a lot of improvs and solos. For example if you can see a lick in and filter it through the major scale, you’ll have mastered what makes a jazz guitar player a jazz guitar player and your audience will appreciate your talent and effort!

4) Transcribing tunes are a great source for improvisations.

Transcribing involves learning a tune by ear and then working it out in different chords if you choose. Transcribing really helps any serious player and should be a regular part of their solo practice. It involves trial and error practice where you’ll discover what works for you and what doesn’t work.

5) The best part is hearing yourself play.

Inspire yourself during your improvisation by recording yourself (you might also consider hooking up jazz guitar amps). When you listen to the recording, you’ll be able to hear even better the areas that need work. At the same time, you’ll also hear the areas that work very well and demonstrate the progress you’ve made as a jazz guitar player.

Improvisations and solos are like a string of musical ideas that you have gathered along the way through your learning career. You’ll get these “musical ideas” by learning and mastering the scales, learning to key licks and riffs and by transcribing tunes that you enjoy. You’ll soon see your creativity and skills take off!

Many of us had this dream when we started learning to play jazz guitar. We saw ourselves on stage under bright lights whipping out this great improvised solo. Maybe our dreams went into even more details. We saw the other band members, the equipment (like jazz guitar amps) and the people who would listen to our music.

So like any newbie, we decided to trot off and do what it took to learn how to play. We enrolled in lessons and things started off with a bang, but as the weeks went on, our excitement started to subside. In fact the excitement that we initially had was vaguely remembered as situations came up that interrupted our lesson and practice time. Stop the madness! Realize your dream and get back on track with playing jazz guitar!

1) Remember why you enrolled in jazz guitar lessons in the first place.

If you want to spruce up your lesson time and your practice time, have something to look forward to like listening to your favorite tune and attempting to transcribe it. Many people approach their lessons and practice time without having any goals, and they wonder why they don’t feel like they are learning anything. Cure that by finding a tune you like to play and then take steps to learn how to recreate it. This is a sure way to break the monotony of learning how to play the scales and arpeggios.

2) Be committed to having quality lesson and practice time.

Be committed to the time you have set aside to learn and improve your skills. When you’re committed to the lesson, it becomes easy to eliminate the distractions because you’re focused on learning something new. Have a set schedule for your lesson and practice times and stick with it. Regularly scheduled lessons will bring results and those results will fuel your excitement for becoming a jazz guitar player. You should also be determined to have a learning goal that you want to accomplish during this time.

3) Practice expands your music vocabulary.

As you practice what you’ve learned in the lesson, you’ll definitely notice that you’re learning something. Consider adding to your practice time or learning your favorite tune. Let’s say you hear a tune on gypsy jazz guitar that you like and you listen to it over and over so that you have it memorized in your mind. During your practice time, you learn to work with this tune. You’ll recreate it as you heard it and you’ll learn to play it in different chords as well. This activity is actually expanding your musical vocabulary. It will help when you want to play an improv or even a solo act.

Get the most out of your jazz guitar lessons and practice time by listening to and playing tunes that you like. You’ll find the inspiration and motivation to stay plugged in to your studies and you will see that your skills and guitar techniques will improve!

If you’re serious about learning to play jazz guitar, you will need to memorize a few standard tunes. Many people already know this, and the first place they head to is to a fakebook. They’ll try to learn some tunes that way and wonder why their playing ends up being rigid.

We don’t want to say that a fakebook isn’t a great tool, but there are other ways to learn that we would like you, as the jazz guitar player, to open yourself to. For example, you can always learn some of your favorite tunes by listening to them over and over and then learning to play them during your jazz guitar lessons or practice time.

- Hear the song. One way to learn a tune for your gypsy jazz guitar is to listen to a tune over and over. Keep listening to it until it becomes so embedded in your mind and heart that you’ve memorized the tune even when it isn’t playing on a CD. Doing this will help you replay the song and harmonize it in different chords and transitions.

- Once you’ve got the tune memorized, find the tune on your fretboard. If it helps, you might also consider hooking up jazz guitar amps to help you hear and give it a more “real play” feel to your practice. Sing the tune and try to figure out the notes going back and forth until you’ve learned the tune. Don’t be concerned about playing it in the right key, just be concerned with learning the play the tune. Remember to add in learning the chord changes and you might also want to add in your own substitutions for the tune.

As you’re learning to play jazz guitar this way, you’re also learning to hear the song and replay it on your jazz guitar. If you stick to the music sheets, you might find that you’ll have a harder time feeling the music and putting some “soul” into it.

While your play might be technically correct, it will still lack the essence of the song. You decided to become a jazz guitar player because you somehow connected with the music, not because you wanted to be a technically great player.

If you learn how to hear a song and then recreate it, you’ll be taking yourself through an important learning activity that sets the foundation for your improvisations and solos down the line. You see, you’ll need to learn how to hear the music naturally before you begin doing improvisations.

Imagine how you’d feel if you were able to learn a new tune this way. You’d feel pretty motivated to stick with your jazz guitar learning and you might even be inspired to delve deeper into the art of playing jazz guitar.