F augmented arpeggio on drop D guitar

F · A · C♯

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 9 · The triad.

The notes

  1. F1
  2. A3
  3. C♯♯5

The F augmented arpeggio is F, A, C♯.

You may also see it called 1 3 ♯5.

On the staff

FGA♭AB♭CD♭EF

On a treble staff, the F augmented arpeggio is written F A C♯.

The solid notes are the F augmented arpeggio. The pale notes are the rest of F harmonic minor, the larger scale it is carved out of, so you can see which notes it leaves out.

Why the F augmented arpeggio has this sharp

  1. F1
  2. 4
  3. A3
  4. 4
  5. C♯♯5
  6. 4
  7. F8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is 4 4 4: 4, 4, 4, and so on. 4 stands for a step of four semitones. The pattern is what gives F augmented 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 built on F harmonic minor, and the notes it shares are spelled the same way as they are there.

The pattern still does not fit the plain letters. If you walk the pattern up from F, one letter cannot keep up:

  • C♯ — the sharp fifth. The pattern needs 4 from A, but A to C is only a tone and a half, so C has to rise to C♯.

That accidental was not a choice. Once you pick the note to start on, the pattern decides the rest, and a key signature is a record of the result.

The F augmented arpeggio is written with C♯, because the 4 4 4 pattern of steps cannot be spelled with plain letters from F.

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

5CD7E1F2G3AB5CD7E1F2G3AB5CD7E1F2G3AB5CD7E1F2G3AB5C♯5C♯D♯F♯♭3A♭4B♭♯5C♯D♯F♯♭3A♭4B♭♯5C♯D♯F♯♭3A♭4B♭♯5C♯D♯F♯♭3A♭4B♭C2C3C4C5C6

The keyboard shows the same three notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the F augmented arpeggio, the pale keys are the rest of F harmonic minor, and you can click any key to hear it.

F augmented arpeggio on the whole neck

DADGBE123456789101112131415F1A3C♯♯5F1A3C♯♯5F1A3F1A3C♯♯5F1A3C♯♯5F1A3C♯♯5F1A3C♯♯5F1A3C♯♯5F1

34 notes of the F augmented arpeggio are marked across six strings.

This is every place the notes of the F augmented arpeggio fall on the drop D guitar, 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 1
DADGBE34567813♯513♯513
Position 2 — starts on the 3
DADGBE7891011123♯513♯513♯5
Position 3 — starts on the ♯5
DADGBE111213141516♯513♯513♯51

The F augmented arpeggio has three playable positions, at frets 3–7, 7–11 and 11–15.

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

DADGBE34567891011121314151617181920212213♯513♯513♯513♯5TAB3748711101414181721

The climb runs from fret 3 to fret 21 and plays twelve 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 two notes on every string. The widest stretch on any one string is four frets.