C#7 arpeggio
C# Dominant 7 — the notes C#, E#, G#, B played one at a time, bottom-up and back.
Musical context
How the arpeggio relates to the chord, scale, mode and key.
How to play the arpeggio
Theory
General info
- Full name
- C# Dominant 7
- Root
- C#
- Quality
- Dominant 7
- Type
- Dominant seventh
- Note count
- 4
- Brief character
- Energetic, bluesy sound with characteristic pull toward the tonic. Minor seventh adds a tritone (between 3 and b7) to the major triad, creating dominant pull.
Energetic, "pushing", bluesy. Drive, push, bluesiness, expectation of resolution.
Defined by the characteristic tense tritone between the 3rd and b7.
Notes & degrees
Major triad + minor seventh: 1-3-5-b7.
On the piano
An arpeggio is a broken chord: the same notes played one after another rather than together, bottom-up and back. On the piano they are usually split between the two hands — in an accompaniment, for instance, the left hand carries the bass while the right fills in the figuration.
Any chord can be played arpeggiato or turned into figuration — a broken bass, Alberti figures, a waltz accompaniment. Unlike the guitar, where an arpeggio is tied to the order the strings are plucked, there is no fixed fingering “shape” here — evenness and legato between the notes matter most.
Chord basis
Differs from maj7 by the lowered seventh (b7 instead of 7).
Function and tensions
Dominant function on degree V. Blues tonic on I.
Unstable in classical, stable in blues as a "tonic".
Harmonic context
V7 of major and minor, I7 in blues, V7/x — secondary dominants.
Mixolydian mode, blues scale, melodic minor from b7.
Basic vertical for blues and jazz improvisation.
Compatible scales & modes
All chord tones are contained in these scales — use them for improvisation.
This arpeggio on guitar 🎸
See how C#7 looks on guitar.
Circle of fifths
Keys where this chord functions as a scale degree, on the circle of fifths.
How to play on piano
Practice
Keyboard Trainer
Reinforce it in practice — play and name notes on the interactive keyboard.