Today, we’re going to break down minor arpeggios on bass.
This is a quick, easy lesson to help you understand minor arpeggio construction, shapes, and application in your bass playing.
Table of Contents
What Is A Minor Arpeggio?
A minor arpeggio is simply a minor chord played 1 note at a time, rather than in harmony.
This is represented by the minor arpeggio formula: 1-b3-5.
- 1 is your root note
- The b3 is the minor tone
- The 5th is harmonically neutral, which means it’s function is neither major nor minor
Playing these 3 notes (intervals) in order will give you a complete minor arpeggio, which is often associated with a sad sound.
One Octave Minor Arpeggio Shape
The single octave minor arpeggio shape is played like this on bass:
- Put your middle finger on the root note (C) (fret 8 of the low E string, in this example)
- Play the b3 interval (Eb) down 1 string, and back 2 frets (fret 6 of the A string)
- Play the 5th interval (G) up 4 frets from the b3 (fret 10 of the A string)
This is an easy pattern that’s easy for both the picking hand and fretting hand to adapt to. Once it’s memorized, you can use it at any root note position.
Complete minor arpeggio fretboard diagram
Use this diagram to visualize minor arpeggios across the entire fretboard.
Then use it to create minor arpeggio shapes that work best for your style.
How to practice minor arpeggios
Here’s a simple practice routine.
- Find a root note
- Play the minor arpeggio formula ascending: 1-b3-5
- Then play the formula descending: 5-b3-1
- Move the shape to a different root note and repeat steps 1-3
This will help you memorize the shapes and train your ear at the same time.
Applying Minor Arpeggios
Minor chords naturally appear on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees of the major scale. Any time you’re playing at one of those degrees, you can apply your minor arpeggio shape.
And like any arpeggio or scale, you can apply it to many musical situations, including:
- Walking bass lines
- Rock riffs
- Funk grooves
- Bass solos
What’s Next?
That’s your quick, easy lesson about playing minor arpeggios for bass.
- Start by memorizing the minor arpeggio formula.
- Practice the minor arpeggio shape with multiple root notes
- Try composing or improvising with minor arpeggios (backing tracks help!)
And if you want to learn more arpeggios, check out this C minor 7 arpeggio bass lesson.
Thanks for reading!