An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. Playing the right arpeggio over each chord is the fastest way to make your lines outline the harmony, so a listener can hear the changes even without a rhythm guitar.
We're in C major over Dm7, G7 and Cmaj7, in fifth position (frets 4 to 8).
Fingering and picking
- Keep your index finger around fret 5. Fret 4 belongs to the index too, with a small stretch; fret 8 is the pinky.
- Alternate pick, starting with a downstroke.
- Dm7 is D F A C, G7 is G B D F, Cmaj7 is C E G B. Say them before you play.
Swing the eighth notes: the first of each pair is longer, the second shorter, like "doo-ba doo-ba". Accent the offbeats slightly (marked >), the way horn players do.
The second exercise squeezes Dm7 and G7 into a single bar, going up one arpeggio and down the next. That change of direction makes it sound like a line, not a drill.
The most common mistake is playing arpeggios as chord shapes held down, so the notes ring together. Jazz lines are played one clean note at a time; lift each finger as the next note sounds.
Practice each arpeggio alone first, then the full progression.