What is appreigo for the bass?

[steve5224]

I've been seeing more and more of this appreigo on the bass and wondering what is it? Looks like scales but what are they and what could and how could they be played in a gig to make your playing sound better and not the normal routine?

 

[iiipopes]

Do you mean arpeggio?

Definition: ar·peg·gi·o/ärˈpejēˌō/Noun: The notes of a chord played in succession, either ascending or descending.

 

[FretlessMainly]

And while they can be strictly limited to chord tones, you don't necessarily need to interpret "the notes of a chord" from iiipopes' definition as only chord tones (i.e., the appropriate 1, 3, 5, and 7). An example of using an arpeggio to spice things up:

Over a CMaj7 chord in the key of G Major (i.e., the CMaj7 is funtioning as a IV chord):

C E G B D F# A. By playing a D Maj triad over the full CMaj7 chord, you've added the IV chord flavor with the F# and the 9 and 13 with the D and the A, respectively. All of these are diatonic to the key (G Major) and reflective of the IV chord, CMaj7.

If you're not ready for that type of theoretical leap at this point, try this progression, staying in the key of G Major:

GMaj7 Amin7 Bmin7 CMaj7 D7 GMaj7.

ascending over GMaj7: G B D F#, then up one fret to
descending over Amin7: G E C A, then up two frets to
ascending over Bmin7: B D F# A, then up two frets to
descending over CMaj7: B G E C, then up two frets to
ascending over D7: D F# A C, then down one fret to
descending over GMaj7: B G D B.

Try to avoid using all 1 3 5 7s either ascending or descending - it's much more musical to mix them up for the sake of variety. But to start, it may be easiest to practice doing all chord tones (1 3 5 7) in the same direction until you get used to it.

 

[ffutterman]

C E G B D F# A. By playing a D Maj triad over the full CMaj7 chord, you've added the IV chord flavor with the F# and the 9 and 13 with the D and the A, respectively. All of these are diatonic to the key (G Major) and reflective of the IV chord, CMaj7.

 

[Marty Forrer]

If you're a rock/pop/country/blues player the arpeggios are your best friends. They are the notes a chord is made of. Generally speaking, a bassline is made up primarily of the notes from arpeggios, called chord tones. These are the notes that define the chord and let the vocalist or horn players know what chord they're sitting on. An arpeggio is made up of notes from a scale, namely the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th. In the key of C the scale would be C D E F G A B C. Take the arpeggio from that, you have C E G B. In most instances the 7th note is not used as much as the other three notes. Thus C E G become the money notes. The B is often used on a descending run, moreso than on an ascending run. A rock solid bassplayer uses a lot of the money notes in his/her playing, particularly in a setting where there is no chordal instrument. I have played in a lot of jazz trios even where the pianist prefers the bass to outline the chords.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

And while they can be strictly limited to chord tones, you don't necessarily need to interpret "the notes of a chord" from iiipopes' definition as only chord tones (i.e., the appropriate 1, 3, 5, and 7). An example of using an arpeggio to spice things up:

Over a CMaj7 chord in the key of G Major (i.e., the CMaj7 is funtioning as a IV chord):

C E G B D F# A. By playing a D Maj triad over the full CMaj7 chord, you've added the IV chord flavor with the F# and the 9 and 13 with the D and the A, respectively. All of these are diatonic to the key (G Major) and reflective of the IV chord, CMaj7.

... man that over the top for nothing, only explain what a arpeggio is, no need to explain advanced stuff to someone who doesn't know what it is.

 

[JTE]

The opening to "Badge" centers around an Amin arpeggio. Mist of the lone to "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" is arpeggios. Learn arpeggios and you'll start seeing them as the heart of most great bass lines.

John

 

[FretlessMainly]

... man that over the top for nothing, only explain what a arpeggio is, no need to explain advanced stuff to someone who doesn't know what it is.

Yeah, I reflected after I originally posted the DMAJ over CMAJ7 bit (which I happen to consider "not normal routine"), and so I did add the much more simple example that you chose not to quote.

So, I actually brought something to this thread, didn't I?

 

[Fergie Fulton]

The opening to "Badge" centers around an Amin arpeggio. Mist of the lone to "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" is arpeggios. Learn arpeggios and you'll start seeing them as the heart of most great bass lines.

John

Badge, great example....top song. Yup.... Arps are one of your best friends as a bass player.

 

[Orangeclawhammr]

Yeah, I reflected after I originally posted the DMAJ over CMAJ7 bit (which I happen to consider "not normal routine"), and so I did add the much more simple example that you chose not to quote.

So, I actually brought something to this thread, didn't I?

As a beginner, I would prefer to read something which may be beyond what I can comprehend at the moment to nothing. I can always ask my more musically literate friends about what I don't understand. I can read further posts that may explain a complicated one.

So thank you for your post.

 

[Russell L]

Blues and 50s music uses arpeggios a lot. So does a lot of modern music.

 

[Sterrrling]

One of the first things that many instructors teach is the ability to learn how to play arps (for short), both to understand chord structure and individual notes with scales among many reasons.

 

[jack_wantz]

there are a lot of pdf books bass guitar related, if u can't fin,message me i will e mail u