F major arpeggio on 8-string guitar

F · A · C

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

The notes

  1. F1
  2. A3
  3. C5

The F major arpeggio is F, A, C.

You may also see it called 1 3 5.

On the staff

FGAB♭CDEF

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

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

Why the F major arpeggio has no sharps or flats

  1. F1
  2. 4
  3. A3
  4. T+S
  5. C5
  6. 5
  7. F8

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 F 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 F major with some notes taken out, and it keeps that scale's spelling exactly.

Every letter already falls where the pattern needs it, so F major is written with no sharps or flats at all.

The F 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

5C6D7E1F2G3AB5C6D7E1F2G3AB5C6D7E1F2G3AB5C6D7E1F2G3AB5C6D7E1F2G3AB5CC♯D♯F♯G♯4B♭C♯D♯F♯G♯4B♭C♯D♯F♯G♯4B♭C♯D♯F♯G♯4B♭C♯D♯F♯G♯4B♭C1C2C3C4C5C6

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

F major arpeggio on the whole neck

F♯BEADGBE123456789101112131415A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1A3C5F1

49 notes of the F major arpeggio are marked across eight strings.

This is every place the notes of the F major arpeggio fall on the 8-string 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 3
F♯BEADGBE3456783513513513
Position 2 — starts on the 5
F♯BEADGBE6789101151351351135
Position 3 — starts on the 1
F♯BEADGBE1112131415161351351351

The F major arpeggio has three playable positions, at frets 3–7, 6–10 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

F♯BEADGBE101112131415161718192021135135135135TAB111013131215151417181720

The climb runs from fret 10 to fret 20 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 a different number of notes on different strings. The widest stretch on any one string is three frets.