Arpeggio · C7♯5 · Piano
The C7♯5 arpeggio is C – E – G♯ – B♭ — chord tones 1 3 ♯5 ♭7. C7♯5 is a dominant that wants extra tension before resolving down a fifth; its sound is floating, whole-tone. Below, every C, E, G♯, B♭ on the two-octave keyboard is marked, with the root in gold. Press play to hear a one-octave arpeggio, or tap any note.
Visualizer
Piano
Guitar · standard tuning
Play loops the arpeggio up and down one octave (switch Loop off for a single pass). 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♯ | minor 6th (8 semitones) |
| ♭7 | B♭ | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
Goes with: C Whole tone (C D E G♭ A♭ B♭). Voicings: C7♯5 voicings on piano.
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♯5 is a dominant that wants extra tension before resolving down a fifth. Its character is floating, whole-tone.
C Whole tone (C D E G♭ A♭ B♭) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Play C – E – G♯ – B♭ ascending from C, then descend; then start from each chord tone in turn (inversions) so your hand knows the shape from any note.
Keep going
Same arpeggio on guitar · Augmented 7th (7♯5) hub · chord-scale theory.
Other arpeggios from C