Major seventh arpeggio

Here are some of the standard fingering patterns for playing major seventh chord arpeggio. As usual, the root note is emphasized. The patterns are not named for chord shapes because they generally span more than one type of chord pattern.

Some of the patterns are very awkward to play. You'll also see some overlap in the patterns, which is typical on patterns where is a large stretch to reach the next note.

The same chords and patterns are shown in both a vertical and a horizontal display because some people have trouble with one form or the other.

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Using the patterns

The notes in these patterns aren't a subset of anything except the major scale. What are some approaches to learning something like these patterns?

Compare a pattern it to the other arpeggios, compare it to chord patterns, and look for visual patterns in the shapes. For instance, there are patterns where two adjacent strings have the same frets used, and patterns where the notes are all grouped together. Use those along with knowing where an octave up or down is located and you'll start piecing all of the parts together.

Once you understand how to build the 1-3-5-7 of the chord and learn a few of the patterns, you'll see how the patterns interconnect.

Take a look at the patterns that starts on the chord's 5 note. An example of interconnect patterns is shown by the third pattern, the easy to remember one. It uses parts of both the patterns before it and parts of the patten that is shown in the "starting on the chord's seventh section.

You can always move to another pattern when it's convenient for fingering, or to reach a starting point for a different pattern, such as a minor pentatonic. Another reason to move is to give a different sound to your playing, perhaps by sliding to the next note.