Double Sharps and Double Flats
Sometimes in music, particularly when notating chords it is necessary to use double sharps (indicated by !) and double flats (indicated by ~). The reason for this is the spelling of the intervals. E.g. a B augmented triad would contain the notes B, D# and F~.
You will notice F double sharp is the same as G natural. The reason F double sharp is used is that the interval of a major 3rd above D# must contain the letter F and not the letter G; The same principle applies with double flats. E.g. an Eb diminished triad would contain the notes Eb, Gb and B~. The B double flat would be used instead of A natural because the minor 3rd interval above Gb must contain the letter B and not A. These are more examples of enharmonic notes. You may also have noticed the use of notes such as Cb, Fb, B# and E# in some of the previous examples. Although they are not common, these notes are used in music and are therefore worth learning.
For every type of chord there is a corresponding arpeggio. This means there are major, minor, augmented, diminished, dominant seventh and minor seventh arpeggios among others. The most common arpeggios used in Rock are major, minor and seventh arpeggios, so these are the ones which will be discussed in this book. Shown below is a C minor arpeggio which consists of the notes C, Eb and G which are the root, flattened third and fifth of a C minor chord.
This is a G minor arpeggio which consists of the notes G, Bb and D. These are the root, third and fifth of a G minor chord.
Here are all the minor arpeggios between C minor and B minor played chromatically upwards. Try playing them downwards chromatically as well.
The riff played in the following 12 bar Blues consists entirely of notes from minor arpeggios. The chord symbols written above the music tell you which arpeggio you are playing in any given bar.
