Dominant 7 Arpeggios for Jazz Guitar

Fretboard diagram showing everywhere to play an E dominant 7 arpeggio on the guitar.

Sometimes I feel like I spent half of my time in college working on dominant 7th arpeggios.

Learning how to play them. How to apply them to ii V I progressions. How to alter them and create “outside” harmonies.

There’s a good reason for this… dominant 7 arpeggios are really important if you want to get good at jazz guitar. They’re a perfect companion to dominant 7th jazz guitar chords.

They’re everywhere. Even if you’re playing a song that doesn’t have one in the progression, there are ways you can still use them to create tension (and interest) in your solos.

Let’s take a look at dominant 7 arpeggios.You’ll learn what makes them tick, and how to play them on your guitar.

Basic Theory Behind Dominant 7 Arpeggios:

Dominant 7 arpeggios are pretty common in many styles of music, and get used all the time in jazz. For our purposes, the term “dominant” is only something we’ll use when talking about different kinds of chords.

The chord symbol is actually pretty simple – you’ve seen it over and over again. G7 is the symbol for a G dominant 7 chord. When we talk about these, I tend to say “dominant” to make it clear we’re not talking about minor 7 or major 7 arpeggios.

There are two good ways to build a dominant 7 arpeggio in theory – using the intervals or chord tones, and by altering a major 7 arpeggio structure to make it a dominant 7 arpeggio.

Dominant 7 Arpeggio by Intervals

Dominant 7 arpeggios are built using the Root (1), Major Third (3), Perfect Fifth (5), and Minor (or flat) Seventh (♭7) intervals.

The basic interval structure of a dominant 7 arpeggio.

I prefer the term “flat 7” to “minor 7” when we’re talking about intervals within the chord. While “minor 7th” might be a correct term in theory class, it can get confusing when we’re talking about chord types.

Altering Major 7 to Create a Dominant 7:

Another way to arrive at a dominant 7 arpeggio is to alter the pattern of a major 7 arpeggio.

There are actually a couple of steps to this sometimes, but it’s pretty simple. Take the 7 from your major 7 arpeggio, and lower it one fret. This will give you the b7 interval.

How to directly convert a maj7 arpeggio to a dom7 arpeggio.

Now sometimes this will create kind of a stretchy finger pattern. Some people don’t mind this, but I don’t like it very much.

So what we need to do is move that note to a different string. This will let us create a more comfortable finger pattern that’s easier to play.

Converting a stretchy pattern into a finger-friendly finger pattern.

This way you can use your major 7th arpeggios you already know, and create a dominant 7 using the same pattern as a template.

And if you’re not into doing that work yourself, don’t worry. Just keep reading to get to the done-for-you diagrams.

Movable Shapes for Dominant 7 Arpeggios:

You have to have a way to keep your fingers organized when you’re playing guitar. You just do. And that’s why so many guitar players use some kind of system of movable shapes to play their dominant 7 arpeggios.

A shape is considered “movable” when there are no open strings being used. That way if you slide your hand to a new fret, you’re playing the same arpeggio structure, in a new key. The notes will be different, but it will still be a recognizable dominant 7 arpeggio.

Here are the 5 common movable finger patterns to learn:

6th String Shape

Fretboard diagrams for a dominant 7 arpeggio on the 6th string.

Music notation and TAB showing the G dominant 7 arpeggio on the 6th string.

5th String Shape

Diagrams of the dominant 7 arpeggio shape on the 5th string.

Musical example of playing the C7 arpeggio from the 5th string.

4th String Shape

Diagrams of a dominant 7 arpeggio from the 4th string.

How to play an F7 arpeggio using the 4th string form.

3rd String Shape

Diagrams showing finger patterns and intervals for a dominant 7 arpeggio using the 3rd string form.

Music notation and TAB showing how to play a Bb7 arpeggio from the 3rd string.

2nd String Shape

Diagrams of a dominant 7th arpeggio starting on the 2nd string.

Music notation and TAB showing how to play a D7 Arpeggio.

Practice these arpeggio patterns until they become easy to play and remember. That will make it easier for you to apply them in your jazz guitar solos.

Using Dominant 7 Arpeggios

These arpeggios are the perfect option for outlining dominant 7 chords

For G7, you would play a G7 arpeggio.

This becomes really useful for outlining chord changes in the blues, and in ii V I progressions.

Once you’re comfortable with the basic shapes, these arpeggio patterns can be altered to create different sounds:

By moving the 5 up or down a fret, you can create a #5 or a b5 (#11) in the arpeggio.
By moving the 5 up or down two frets, you can create a 13 or an 11 within the arpeggio shape.
By moving the root of the pattern (but nothing else) up one, two, or three frets, you can create a b9, 9, or #9 arpeggio.

Diagrams showing alteration options for Dominant 7th arpeggio shapes.

Take your time, and see how these alterations change your finger pattern as you go.

Practice Tips and Exercises

Practice slowly at first. Even though these are related to the major 7 arpeggios you already know, the finger patterns are different.

So take the time to build up your new muscle memory.

Play with a backing track. Use iRealPro to generate a packing track so you can practice your arpeggios and hear the chords at the same time.

Try these arpeggios in ii V I progressions – just target the 5 chord (it’s always a dominant 7).

As you get better with each arpeggio shape, you can try connecting two of them together.

Try shifting between 2 arpeggios in the same key – like G7 on the 6th string, and G7 on the 4th string. See how smooth you can make the transition.

Diagrams showing how to connect dominant 7 arpeggios up the guitar fretboard.

Conclusion

Dominant 7 arpeggios are an essential part of your jazz guitar toolbox.

They are part of your ii V I progressions ( the V chord), and can be altered to create different sounds once you’re comfortable with the basic patterns.

Your first step is to learn the shapes in this lesson.

Once these patterns are easy for you, you can move on to applying them to chord progressions, and the songs you want to play.

How do you use these arpeggios in your playing? Let me know below.

More Arpeggios

For more arpeggio lessons, check out major 7, minor 7, and minor 7b5 arpeggios.