The notes
- C1
- E3
- G5
The C major arpeggio is C, E, G.
You may also see it called 1 3 5.
On the staff
On a bass staff, the C major arpeggio is written C E G.
The solid notes are the C major arpeggio. The pale notes are the rest of C major, the larger scale it is carved out of, so you can see which notes it leaves out.
Why the C major arpeggio has no sharps or flats
- C1
- 4
- E3
- T+S
- G5
- 5
- C8
A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is 4 T+S 5: 4, a tone and a half, 5, and so on. T+S stands for a tone and a half, which is three semitones. 4 stands for a step of four semitones. 5 stands for a step of five semitones. The pattern is what gives C major its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.
This scale has only three notes, so it does not use every letter. It is C major with some notes taken out, and it keeps that scale's spelling exactly.
Every letter already falls where the pattern needs it, so C major is written with no sharps or flats at all.
The C major arpeggio needs no sharps or flats, because every letter already falls where the 4 T+S 5 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
The keyboard shows the same three notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the C major arpeggio, the pale keys are the rest of C major, and you can click any key to hear it.
C major arpeggio on the whole neck
21 notes of the C major arpeggio are marked across four strings.
This is every place the notes of the C major 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
The C major arpeggio has three playable positions, at frets 3–7, 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
The climb runs from fret 8 to fret 17 and plays seven 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.