Chords and Arpeggios
A chord is a group of three or more notes played together. Chords are commonly played by guitarists and keyboard players etc. On the bass guitar, chords are played one note at a time.
This is called an arpeggio. The most important chords to learn are the major chord (e.g. C major) and the minor chord (e.g. D minor). These chords are based upon the major scale. (For more information on arpeggios and chords see Progressive Bass Guitar or Progressive Tapping Technique for Bass Guitar.) C is a shorthand way of writing C major. It applies to all major chords. Dm is a shorthand method of writing D minor. It applies to all minor chords. The examples below are commonly used arpeggios. It is important to memorize these arpeggios as they will become very useful in playing heavy metal bass. These arpeggios start on the root note (i.e. the name of the chord).
In the two examples below, the F chord arpeggio is played in different octaves.
The notes of an arpeggio can be played in any order. In the example below the arpeggios start on the highest note moving downwards to the root note.
*This chord is called a diminished chord. It is indicated by aO after the letter name.
In the next example all open string notes are replaced with fretted notes, which are played with the little finger.
Example 42 uses the same chord progression as Example 38, but this time play the F chord in the lower octave, with the notes of the chord in a different order.
