Arpeggio · C7 · Guitar
The C7 arpeggio is C – E – G – B♭ — chord tones 1 3 5 ♭7. C7 is the V chord — the engine of every cadence, and every bar of a blues; its sound is tense, pulling toward its resolution. Below, every C, E, G, B♭ on the fretboard is marked, with the root in gold. Press play to hear a one-octave arpeggio, or tap any note.
Visualizer
Guitar · standard tuning
Piano
Play runs the arpeggio up and down one octave in the position starting at fret 8. Tap any marked note to hear it. “Show” switches or combines the fretboard and keyboard; “Sound” picks the instrument you hear. Audio is synthesized in the browser.
Reference
| Chord tone | Note | Interval from C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | unison (0 semitones) |
| 3 | E | major 3rd (4 semitones) |
| 5 | G | perfect 5th (7 semitones) |
| ♭7 | B♭ | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
Goes with: C Mixolydian (C D E F G A B♭). Voicings: C7 voicings on guitar.
Common questions
C – E – G – B♭. As chord tones: 1 3 5 ♭7. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
C7 is the V chord — the engine of every cadence, and every bar of a blues. Its character is tense, pulling toward its resolution.
C Mixolydian (C D E F G A B♭) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Start on the root C on the low E string at fret 8 and play E-string fret 8, E-string fret 12, A-string fret 10, D-string fret 8, D-string fret 10. Then play it descending, then in eighth notes with a metronome, then over the the V chord — the engine of every cadence.
Keep going
Same arpeggio on piano · Dominant 7th hub · chord-scale theory.
Other arpeggios from C