Starting arpeggios on the third of a chord
If you take a standard 3 note arpeggio and play it starting on the third instead of the root of a chord, you will get a 7ths sound.
Here is how it works. You start with a regular 3 note chord. This example is an A minor triad, A C E. This would be the chord in the music that you want to put a 7ths sound over. Note that the chord doesn’t have to be a 7ths chord for this to work.
You need to find the 3 note chord a third up from the first chord. In this case, it is a C major triad, C E G. This will be the arpeggio that you play to create the 7ths sound.
The two chords have two notes in common, C and E.
The two chords combined create an A minor 7 chord, A C E G.
So if you play a C major triad over an A minor triad, you will be playing the third, fifth and seventh of A minor.
Once again, you don’t need to use this just over 7th chords. You can imply a 7th tonality instead. The 7th isn’t particularly dissonant, so it isn’t difficult to use in many cases. It just adds a different flavor to your soloing.
Keep in mind that when you use this technique, you lose the root note of the chord in your arpeggio. It isn’t necessary to play the root note of the arpeggio because that is already clearly defined by the underlying chord. Thus you can deemphasize it in your soloing by using these arpeggios built on the third of the chord.
The arpeggio is still going to sound firmly anchored in the current chord due to the presence of the third and the fifth of the underlying chord in the arpeggio.
Here is a concrete example of this technique. Two chords are used. In the first measure, an A minor chord is used, and then in the second measure, a D minor chord. In both cases the normal arpeggio is played first, then the arpeggio a third up from the root of the chord is played to create the 7ths sound.
Copyright Dave Cardwell 2007
