7 Insane Arpeggio Lines for Jazz Musicians | feat. Holger Marjamaa
- Jazz Lesson Videos
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Arpeggios are a great way to cover a lot of musical ground quickly. Arpeggios are, technically speaking, just the notes of a chord split up and played in a linear fashion—either ascending or descending. But you can also add in other notes, like you’ll see with some of the chromaticism we’ll be using. And while arpeggios are impressive when played well, they don’t have to be complicated to understand.
Today, we’ll look at 7 different arpeggio lines for jazz musicians with Holger Marjamaa. If you want to learn more about these amazing arpeggios, be sure to check out Holger’s new resource with Jazz Lesson Videos, 96 Arpeggio Lines for Jazz Musicians! If you want to follow along with Holger playing, make sure to check out our YouTube video, 7 Insane Arpeggio Lines for Jazz Musicians.
Now let’s get playing!
Contents
Bb dominant arpeggio with chromaticism
Our first arpeggio has a beautiful color to it.
What we have is a descending Bb7 arpeggio, but instead of descending directly from 3 to 1, we have a small three-note chromatic run, which goes through the #9, 9, and b9 all at once.
This helps give the arpeggio a little more interest, and the three notes make it that the note on the downbeat changes through the whole arpeggio.
Bb7b9#11 arpeggio
This next arpeggio is also dominant, but we have a #11 and a b9 in the mix as well.
Our notes are Bb, Cb—our flat 9, Fb our #11 (or b5), Ab our b7.
You can descend this as well, and it’s a very positional arpeggio.
Bb7#9#11 arpeggio
Now on the other hand, let’s look at another dominant arpeggio, but this time with the #9.
This time, however, we’re being a lot more active and moving around within the arpeggio.
Bb7b9 arpeggio
Next up we have Bb7b9, which we can also look at as Fm7b5 with Bb in the bass.
The notes in this are Bb, and then in the right hand we have B (Cb), Eb, F, Ab and we’ll do that same thing arpeggiated through. This has a really nice color to it, and it resolves nicely to Ebm6.
Fm11 arpeggio
With this next one, we’re going to outline an Fm11 shape.
We have our F and C open fifth in the bass, and then we have Ab, Eb, and Bb repeating up the keyboard.
Db6/9#11 arpeggio
This one has a really nice sound to it.
In the bass, we have Db and Ab, followed by F, Bb, Eb, and G in the right hand. This is also a very positional thing.
Db6/9 in triplets
Our last one today is also on Db6/9, but using two shapes.
In the left hand, we have Db and Ab, and then in the right hand, we move between two shapes—F, Bb, and Eb, and C, F, and Bb. You can even add the #11 (G) at the end for a finishing flair.
That’s all we have for today, but if you want to see how Holger plays any of these exercises, be sure to check out our accompanying YouTube video, 7 Insane Arpeggio Lines for Jazz Musicians | feat. Holger Marjamaa, as well as our new resource with Holger, titled 96 Arpeggio Lines for Jazz Musicians.
See you next time!
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