Diatonic Seventh Arpeggios And Extensions For Guitar

What Are Extended Arpeggios?

Extended diatonic seventh arpeggios in C major are arpeggios derived from seventh chords within the key, but with additional chord tones (extensions) such as the 9th, 11th, and 13th.

These extensions add complexity and color to the basic diatonic seventh chords.

Here’s how the extended diatonic seventh arpeggios look in C major, based on each scale degree:

1. Cmaj7 (I)

Root: C

Basic seventh: C, E, G, B

Extended: C, E, G, B, D (9), F (11), A (13)

2. Dmin7 (ii)

Root: D

Basic seventh: D, F, A, C

Extended: D, F, A, C, E (9), G (11), B (13)

3. Emin7 (iii)

Root: E

Basic seventh: E, G, B, D

Extended: E, G, B, D, F (b9), A (11), C (b13)

4. Fmaj7 (IV)

Root: F

Basic seventh: F, A, C, E

Extended: F, A, C, E, G (9), B (#11), D (13)

5. G7 (V)

Root: G

Basic seventh: G, B, D, F

Extended: G, B, D, F, A (9), C (11), E (13)

6. Amin7 (vi)

Root: A

Basic seventh: A, C, E, G

Extended: A, C, E, G, B (9), D (11), F (b13)

7. Bmin7♭5 (vii)

Root: B

Basic seventh: B, D, F, A

Extended: B, D, F, A, C (b9), E (11), G (b13)

Key Points

Extensions come from the C major scale: The 9th, 11th, and 13th are simply scale degrees added to the base seventh chord.

Some extensions may be altered: Depending on the harmonic context, some extensions (e.g., ♭9 or ♯11) might be adjusted.

Arpeggios are played sequentially: When playing these on the guitar, you would sequence the notes from root to the highest extension and back for practice.

You can also practice them starting from the other chord tones as the third, fifth and seventh.

Guitar Diagrams

Here are some fretboard diagrams on how to finger these shapes.

You can see the basic seventh arpeggio shape and the related extensions (blue dots).

One Cool Tip : 

The extended notes of a given arpeggio are actually the triad corresponding to the next degree.

Example : to get the extensions of Cmaj7 (degree I), just play a Dmin triad (degree 2) and so on..