Ken
Forum MVP
Movable Forms.
This lesson assumes that you have some basic theory knowledge. Since there are many, MANY other resources for that on the internet, I will not cover it here. My goal here is to teach something that *I* use to move around the fretboard with.
A moveable form is taking one shape and using multiple instances of it to travel along the fretboard. Arpeggios work great for this, and that's what I'll be using today. Since there are 3 natural minor7 arpeggios in a given key (the fourth, Locrian, is not a natural minor since it has a flat 5. That changes the shape, and that's why it's excluded). These shapes can be used for linear ascension and descension along the neck. The example is in the key of C, and the first m7 arpeggio is Dm7:
|----------------5--8---------------------------|
|------------6----------------------------------|
|----5--7---------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
Now, I take this arpeggio and mix it up a little, using the minor 3rd as a pivot point:
|-5--------------8/------------------------------|
|----6--------6----------------------------------|
|-------7--5-------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
Example
The next m7 arpeggio is an Em7, and it's only a whole step away. Notice my pinky is playing the m7 in the above arpeggio (8th fret), so I use my pinky to slide up to the 10th fret and then play the Em7 arpeggio backwards, like so:
|-5--------------8/10-10----------------7----------|
|----6--------6-------------8--------8-------------|
|-------7--5-------------------7--9----------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
Example
Now, I've landed on the 5th of Em7 with my index finger (7th fret), and the next arpeggio is an Am7. So, what do I do? Yeah, I use my index finger to slide to the 12th fret and play the Am7 arpeggio forward, like the first one:
|-5--------------8/10-10--------------7/12-12----------------15-------------------------------------|
|----6--------6-----------8--------8--------------13-------13----------------------------------------|
|-------7--5-----------------7--9--------------------14-12-------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Example
Now, I have a D Dorian rhythm and we're ready to see it in action...
Example
This lesson assumes that you have some basic theory knowledge. Since there are many, MANY other resources for that on the internet, I will not cover it here. My goal here is to teach something that *I* use to move around the fretboard with.
A moveable form is taking one shape and using multiple instances of it to travel along the fretboard. Arpeggios work great for this, and that's what I'll be using today. Since there are 3 natural minor7 arpeggios in a given key (the fourth, Locrian, is not a natural minor since it has a flat 5. That changes the shape, and that's why it's excluded). These shapes can be used for linear ascension and descension along the neck. The example is in the key of C, and the first m7 arpeggio is Dm7:
|----------------5--8---------------------------|
|------------6----------------------------------|
|----5--7---------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
Now, I take this arpeggio and mix it up a little, using the minor 3rd as a pivot point:
|-5--------------8/------------------------------|
|----6--------6----------------------------------|
|-------7--5-------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
Example
The next m7 arpeggio is an Em7, and it's only a whole step away. Notice my pinky is playing the m7 in the above arpeggio (8th fret), so I use my pinky to slide up to the 10th fret and then play the Em7 arpeggio backwards, like so:
|-5--------------8/10-10----------------7----------|
|----6--------6-------------8--------8-------------|
|-------7--5-------------------7--9----------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
Example
Now, I've landed on the 5th of Em7 with my index finger (7th fret), and the next arpeggio is an Am7. So, what do I do? Yeah, I use my index finger to slide to the 12th fret and play the Am7 arpeggio forward, like the first one:
|-5--------------8/10-10--------------7/12-12----------------15-------------------------------------|
|----6--------6-----------8--------8--------------13-------13----------------------------------------|
|-------7--5-----------------7--9--------------------14-12-------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Example
Now, I have a D Dorian rhythm and we're ready to see it in action...
Example
