One of the things that I quickly observed while studying bass is that an octave interval is an upside-down "L" shape apart. Thus, a G on the E string at the 3rd fret is duplicated on the 5th fret of the D string one octave up. If you look at your bass neck you can see this formula 2 strings over+2 frets up (toward the body)=one octave.

All I've done with this study is to take R-3-5 and 3-5-R arpeggios and apply the "L" shape to create an extended 2 octave triad arpeggio.

If you look at the study, you'll notice that you can cover the first 12 frets of the bass by either stacking a 1st inversion (3-5-R) on top of or below a root position triad. I've demonstrated this in the C arpeggio that is in measures 3 and 4. To really get control of this, practice these arpeggios in all 12 keys (C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb/F#-B-E-A-D-G).

Arpeggio Study (pdf, 49k)

Arpeggio Study (mp3, 1.5Mb)

Next lesson we'll use this concept to make some music all over the neck up to the 12th fret.

Peace and Low Notes,
Roy C. Vogt
Nashville Bassist
Bass Instructor, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

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