Bass Arpeggios for Beginners
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Israel Mandujano SolaresBass Arpeggios for Beginners
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Israel Mandujano SolaresArpeggios:
Another excellent way to expand your range on the neck is through the use of arpeggios. To play an
arpeggio you simply play the notes of a chord in a set sequence instead of all at once.To use arpeggios
requres some basic knowlege of chords. You need to know the basics of chord construction. We already
hit some of this in the section on harmony, but here's a quick rundown of the formulas for some
common chords:
Chord Name Formula Example
C Major
R, 3, 5
C, E, G
C minor
R, -3, 5
C, Eb, G
CMaj7
R, 3, 5, 7 C, E, G, B
Cmin7
R, -3, 5, -7 C, Eb, G, Bb
C7 (Dom7) R, 3, 5, -7 C, E, G, Bb
Arpeggios are chords played melodically instead of harmonically.Learning to play arpeggios will
greatly extend your knowledge and experience of notes,and how they sound when played
together,giving you more opportunity for creative jamming in the rehearsal room.This section
lists,chromatically,the arpeggios you are most likely to come acrose in your early days as a Bass player.
Now here are some examples of common arpegios and more complex shapes and patterns.All of these
are movable forms:
Applying Arpeggios
So how do you use them? The simplest way to employ arpegios is to simply outline the chord of a
progression. If you progression is one bar each of C, F, and G (all major), you can play a C major
arpegio over the first chord, an F major arpeggio over the second chord, and a G major arpegio over the
third
chord. You can use them as part of your bass line, or you can use them as licks in
a solo. A well executed fast arpeggio can catch your audience's attention, and it also adds some horizontal
movement to your line
