Guitar & Musician Forums

Hey everyone, I'm a huge Jason Becker fan and have been playing guitar for just over a year. I've been really diving into his album 'Perspective'—it's a masterpiece! I’m fascinated by the complex chords he uses, such as 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths, stemming from his studies with Dave Creamer. I've started exploring jazz theory as well, but I'm struggling with how to translate those chords into arpeggios while incorporating scales like Aeolian, Lydian, Hirajoshi, and Harmonic minor. Any advice?

My advice is to not rush into the complex stuff just yet. Focus on mastering major and minor arpeggios first—they’ll serve as a solid base. Once you’re comfortable, you can start adding the 7ths and 9ths. It’s all about layering your knowledge. You’ll find that the more you practice, the easier it will become to connect the dots.

It seems you’re quite ambitious, which is great! However, I would recommend breaking this down into manageable parts. First, get familiar with the standard arpeggios and their extensions, then explore the various modes over simpler chord progressions. It’s critical to ensure that your technique is solid before moving on to more intricate ideas.

To create arpeggios from those extended chords, start by identifying the chord tones. For instance, when you play a Cmaj7, you have C, E, G, and B. If you want to extend it to a Cmaj9, add D. Try playing every other note from the scale to build your arpeggios, and remember that those extensions are just stacked thirds above the root notes. It's all about connecting the dots between the chord tones and the scales you're using.