Bluesy Arpeggio & Chord Exercise (+ Backing Track)

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October 9, 2013

When practicing something new, it’s always a good idea to put the thing you’re
practicing in a musical context. Often when I try to incorporate a new concept or
fingering into my playing, I make a little tune out of the new material.

Here’s an example of such a tune. This exercise will teach you how to play 9 and 13
arpeggios, as well as their respective chords.

Audio & Notation/Tabs

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Backing Track
Here’s the backing track you can use to practice:

Chord, Scale & Arpeggio Diagrams

F9 Chord

The first chord and arpeggio is an F9, which is an F7 + the tension 9:

F A C Eb G

1 3 5 b7 9

Here’s the chord (1st diagram) and arpeggio diagram (2nd diagram). In the exercise I use
variations of the arpeggio to make it more interesting:

Bb13 Chord

The second type of chord and arpeggio is the Bb13 (see bar 9), which is an Bb7 + the
tension 13:

Bb D F Ab G

1 3 5 b7 13

Here’s the chord (1st diagram) and arpeggio diagram (2nd diagram). In the exercise I use
variations of the arpeggio to make it more interesting:

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The scale I use to end the tune is the F minor blues scale (bar 15):

Do you want to learn how to make

your blues playing sound like jazz?
Check out our Introduction to Jazz
Blues Guitar series.

Bluesy Arpeggio & Chord Exercise (+ Backing Track) was last modified: May 5th, 2018 by
Dirk Laukens

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