G minor arpeggio on bass

G · B♭ · D

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

The notes

  1. G1
  2. B♭♭3
  3. D5

The G minor arpeggio is G, B♭, D.

You may also see it called 1 ♭3 5.

On the staff

GAB♭CDE♭FG

On a bass staff, the G minor arpeggio is written G B♭ D.

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

Why the G minor arpeggio has this flat

  1. G1
  2. T+S
  3. B♭♭3
  4. 4
  5. D5
  6. 5
  7. G8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is T+S 4 5: a tone and a half, 4, 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 G minor 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 G natural 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 G, one letter cannot keep up:

  • B♭ — the flat third. The pattern needs a tone and a half from G, but G to B is only 4, so B has to fall to B♭.

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 G minor arpeggio is written with B♭, because the T+S 4 5 pattern of steps cannot be spelled with plain letters from G.

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

4C5DE♭7F1G2AB4C5DE♭7F1G2AB4C5DE♭7F1G2AB4CC♯♭6E♭F♯G♯♭3B♭C♯♭6E♭F♯G♯♭3B♭C♯♭6E♭F♯G♯♭3B♭C1C2C3C4

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

G minor arpeggio on the whole neck

EADG123456789101112131415G1B♭♭3D5G1B♭♭3D5G1B♭♭3D5G1B♭♭3D5G1B♭♭3D5G1B♭♭3

22 notes of the G minor arpeggio are marked across four strings.

This is every place the notes of the G minor 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 1
EADG3456781♭351♭35
Position 2 — starts on the ♭3
EADG67891011♭351♭35
Position 3 — starts on the 5
EADG10111213141551♭351

The G minor arpeggio has three playable positions, at frets 3–7, 6–10 and 10–14.

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

EADG3456789101112131415161♭351♭351♭3TAB365108121215

The climb runs from fret 3 to fret 15 and plays eight 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 five frets.