Arpeggio · A7 · Guitar
The A7 arpeggio is A – C♯ – E – G — chord tones 1 3 5 ♭7. A7 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 A, C♯, E, G 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 loops the arpeggio up and down one octave (switch Loop off for a single pass) in the position starting at fret 5. 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 A |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | unison (0 semitones) |
| 3 | C♯ | major 3rd (4 semitones) |
| 5 | E | perfect 5th (7 semitones) |
| ♭7 | G | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
Goes with: A Mixolydian (A B C♯ D E F♯ G). Voicings: A7 voicings on guitar.
Common questions
A – C♯ – E – G. As chord tones: 1 3 5 ♭7. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
A7 is the V chord — the engine of every cadence, and every bar of a blues. Its character is tense, pulling toward its resolution.
A Mixolydian (A B C♯ D E F♯ G) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Start on the root A on the low E string at fret 5 and play E-string fret 5, E-string fret 9, A-string fret 7, D-string fret 5, D-string fret 7. 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 A