A minor 7th arpeggio on bass

A · C · E · G

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 13 · Sevenths.

The notes

  1. A1
  2. C♭3
  3. E5
  4. G♭7

The A minor 7th arpeggio is A, C, E, G.

You may also see it called 1 ♭3 5 ♭7.

On the staff

ABCDEF♯GA

On a bass staff, the A minor 7th arpeggio is written A C E G.

The solid notes are the A minor 7th arpeggio. The pale notes are the rest of A dorian, the larger scale it is carved out of, so you can see which notes it leaves out.

Why the A minor 7th arpeggio has no sharps or flats

  1. A1
  2. T+S
  3. C♭3
  4. 4
  5. E5
  6. T+S
  7. G♭7
  8. T
  9. A8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is T+S 4 T+S T: a tone and a half, 4, a tone and a half, and so on. T stands for a tone, which is two semitones. T+S stands for a tone and a half, which is three semitones. 4 stands for a step of four semitones. The pattern is what gives A minor 7th its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.

This scale has only four notes, so it does not use every letter. It is A dorian with some notes taken out, and it keeps that scale's spelling exactly.

Every letter already falls where the pattern needs it, so A minor 7th is written with no sharps or flats at all.

The A minor 7th arpeggio needs no sharps or flats, because every letter already falls where the T+S 4 T+S T pattern of steps needs it.

The pattern of steps is the part of a scale that never changes. The letter names take sharps or flats to fit that pattern, and a key signature is a record of those sharps or flats.

On the piano

♭3C4D5EF♭7G1A2B♭3C4D5EF♭7G1A2B♭3C4D5EF♭7G1A2B♭3CC♯D♯6F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯6F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯6F♯G♯A♯C1C2C3C4

The keyboard shows the same four notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the A minor 7th arpeggio, the pale keys are the rest of A dorian, and you can click any key to hear it.

A minor 7th arpeggio on the whole neck

EADG123456789101112131415E5G♭7A1C♭3E5G♭7A1C♭3E5G♭7A1C♭3E5G♭7A1C♭3E5G♭7A1C♭3E5G♭7A1

29 notes of the A minor 7th arpeggio are marked across four strings.

This is every place the notes of the A minor 7th arpeggio fall on the bass, with each note's name and its scale degree. The roots are marked so you can find your bearings.

Position by position

Position 1 — starts on the ♭7
EADG345678♭71♭35♭71♭3
Position 2 — starts on the 1
EADG56789101♭35♭71♭35
Position 3 — starts on the ♭3
EADG8910111213♭35♭71♭35♭7
Position 4 — starts on the 5
EADG1213141516175♭71♭35♭71

The A minor 7th arpeggio has four playable positions, at frets 3–7, 5–9, 8–12 and 12–16.

Each shape starts on a different degree of the scale and fits inside five frets, so your hand can play all of it without moving.

One climb up the neck

EADG567891011121314151617181♭35♭71♭35♭71♭3TAB58710121014121417

The climb runs from fret 5 to fret 17 and plays ten notes.

This is one path from the lowest root to the top of the neck, and it plays each note once, never on two strings. It takes a different number of notes on different strings. The widest stretch on any one string is five frets.