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Minor Arpeggios

Arpeggios are the notes of a chord played one at a time. This lesson will cover minor arpeggios on the neck of the bass. If you are new to arpeggios, be sure to go through the Basic major and minor arpeggios lesson first.

The arpeggio charts in this lesson are written from a horizontal perspective. So the first string is on top, and the 4th string is on the bottom. The numbers in red represents the root of the arpeggio. Each arpeggio shape can be played anywhere on the neck of the bass. The name will just depend on what position you are playing in. Just line the red notes up with whatever minor arpeggio you want it to be. You will need to have a basic understanding of what the names of the notes are on the neck of the bass to be able to determine what position to play in.

When the root of the arpeggio is not the lowest note in the form, you should practice the arpeggio in 2 ways.

1. Start on the lowest root in the form, work your way to the lowest note, then up to the highest note, then return to the lowest root again. Here is how you would play the above arpeggio form at the 5th fret. This would be an F minor arpeggio.

G:--------------5------|
D:------------6---6----|
A:--8-------8-------8--|
E:----8-4-8------------|

2. Play the arpeggio starting from the lowest note, work your way to the highest, then back to the lowest. As a variation, you may want to pause on the roots in the arpeggio. That way your ear will become accustom to how all of the notes sound in relationship to the root. Again the roots will be the numbers in red.

G:----------5----------|
D:--------6---6--------|
A:------8-------8------|
E:--4-8-----------8-4--|

Each arpeggio chart will be written in 2 ways. To the left you will see a suggested left hand fingering, and to the right you will see the Chord Functions. The chord functions are how the notes in the chord/arpeggio relate to the major scale with the same root. So the chord formula for a minor chord is 1 3 5. See the lesson on basic chord construction.

G A B C D E F = G major scale
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
|   |   |   
G   B  D = Gm chord notes
1  3   5 = Chord function (Chord formula)

Page 2, Minor arpeggios on the neck of the bass