Arpeggios

The chords of a scale, one note at a time. Pick the scale and a shape (how many notes on each string, so one fingering fits every chord) and the seven arpeggios lay themselves out; click one to see every position on the neck.

Sound
Show

E Natural Minor — seventh arpeggios

Hear them all

Seventh chord across three strings: two notes, one note, two notes. Same shape for every chord: only the root moves.

i7 Em779 ♭7 1 5 1 ♭3 E G B D · frets 7–10
iiø7 F♯m7♭5912 ♭7 1 ♭5 1 ♭3 F♯ A C E · frets 9–12
♭IIImaj7 Gmaj712 7 1 5 1 3 G B D F♯ · frets 10–14
iv7 Am713 ♭7 1 5 1 ♭3 A C E G · frets 0–3
v7 Bm735 ♭7 1 5 1 ♭3 B D F♯ A · frets 2–5
♭VImaj7 Cmaj7357 7 1 5 1 3 C E G B · frets 3–7
♭VII7 D7579 ♭7 1 5 1 3 D F♯ A C · frets 5–9

i7 · Em7 every position

0123456789101112 E B G D A E 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 1 5 ♭7 1 ♭3 5 ♭3 5 ♭7 1 ♭3 ♭7 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 5 ♭7 1 ♭3 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 1

Every Em7 tone between frets 0 and 12; roots in color. The shape above is one way through them.

Tab, low string first: 5/7 5/10 4/9 3/7 3/9

Why shapes

An arpeggio is a chord with the notes spread out in time, and on a guitar a chord is a shape. Write down how many notes you play on each string (2-1-2, say) and the shape is the fingering; the chord is just where you put it. Learn Arpeggio 2-1-2 once for Cmaj7 at the third fret and you can play it for every maj7 chord in every key by moving the root. The Dm7 next to it in the key keeps the same hand shape and shifts two notes.

That is why the page shows the whole key at once: the seven arpeggios of a scale are one shape in seven places, with a note or two moved for each quality. The Scale patterns on the Fretboard page are the same idea for scales: three notes per string is the pattern behind most fast playing, and arpeggios are scales with the steps left out.

An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙
Reconnecting…