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Guitar Arpeggio

F Diminished 7th

An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. F Diminished 7th is the F°7 chord spread across the neck — four notes stacked in minor thirds, perfectly symmetrical. Maximum tension, and it can resolve in four directions at once.

F
1
A♭
♭3
C♭
♭5
E𝄫
♭b7

Every position on the neck

eBGDAE1357912151♭3♭5♭b71♭5♭b71♭3♭5♭b7♭3♭5♭b71♭3♭b71♭3♭5♭b71♭5♭b71♭3♭51♭3♭5♭b71

Dark green is the root. Tap any note to hear it — the highlighted box is a playable position starting at fret 1.

The chord it comes from

Every arpeggio is a chord in disguise. Learn the grip and the notes are already under your fingers.

How to actually use it

  • 1Play it over its own chord. When F°7 goes by, every note of this arpeggio is a safe landing — that is what makes arpeggios sound "inside" where scales can sound aimless.
  • 2Target the chord tones on the strong beats. Land on the root or the third when the chord changes, and fill the gaps with scale notes in between.
  • 3Learn one position cold before spreading out. The five-fret box highlighted above is enough to solo with; the rest of the neck is the same shape repeating.
  • 4Say the degree as you play it. Knowing you are on the ♭7 rather than "some note" is the difference between running a pattern and making a line.

Take it further

Diminished 7th arpeggios in every key

Other qualities on F