Being able to play bass guitar arpeggios is one of the most important things to learn on your instrument.
The foundation of many basslines, bass runs, bass solos, and walking bass is often an arpeggio.
By developing this one skill, you’ll gain:
- knowledge of the fretboard
- dexterity for playing phrases across strings (you’ll get interesting fingerings out of these)
- an ear for hearing chord changes and keeping track of where you are in the form
If you’re ready to learn all there is to playing arpeggios on the bass in an easy to understand way, this guide is for you.
You’ll learn:
- What exactly are arpeggios
- Different types of arpeggios that you can play on the bass
- Ways to play arpeggios with fluidity
Let’s dive in.
TL;DR
If you’re short on time, watch my video that breaks down what arpeggios are and how to play them on the bass guitar.
What are arpeggios?
An arpeggio is what you get when you play individual notes of a chord in sequence (instead of playing the notes at the same time).
This is also known as a broken chord.
The sequence can be either ascending or descending and span more than one octave.
Since the notes of an arpeggio come from chord tones, they’ll always sound good.
That’s why musicians will use a lot of them in their solos and melody.
Bass players, like Ray Brown, will also use arpeggios for their walking bass lines. This is because chord tones are an effective way to outline a chord progression with harmonic clarity. Arpeggios are a great way to literally outline the harmony.
Different types of bass arpeggios
There are as many arpeggios as there are chords. And it would take a really long time to learn them all.
However, there are some fundamental ones you should learn as a bassist.
Once you have mastery over these basic types, you’ll be able to see any arpeggio shape on your fretboard and play it with ease.
3-note arpeggios (Fundamental shapes for beginners)
The most basic arpeggio can be created from a triad. There are 6 triads that you should familiarize yourself with. Here they are, along with their numeric formulas. If you’re a beginner, notice the change in pattern between each of these triads. It’ll help you learn this stuff quicker and also help you with your understanding of chords.
- Major Triad: 1, 3, 5
- Minor Triad: 1, ♭3, 5
- Diminished Triad: 1, ♭3, ♭5
- Augmented Triad: 1, 3, ♯5
- Sus4 Triad: 1, 4, 5
- Sus2 Triad: 1, 2, 5
4-note arpeggios
You can extend a triad by adding one note. This creates a seventh chord. So, your notes of the arpeggio from this chord will have 4-notes.