The diminished seventh arpeggio consists entirely of consecutive minor 3rds piled on top of one another.
For example, the notes of the Go7 chord are G, Bb, Db and Fb.
G - Bb = min 3rd
Bb - Db = min 3rd
Db - Fb = min 3rd
Fb - G = min 3rd
All inversions have the same pattern.
The diminished seventh chord arpeggio actually has four different names. To understand why this is so, examine the formula for a diminished seven chord, which is 1 b3 b5 bb7. By applying this formula to the respective scales of each note in the chord, it may be seen that Go7, Bbo7, Dbo7 and Eo7 all contain the same notes, so the same arpeggio can be used for all four chords.
The previous two chord arpeggios can be called either Go7, Bbo7, Dbo7 or Eo7
The following table illustrates this point by showing that the notes in each chord are the same.
Dbo7, can also be called C#o7, Bbo7 can also be called A#o7.
As each arpeggio represents four different dim7 chords, all the diminished seven chords can be covered in just three frets. This example refers to the 4th string.
At the 1st fret the diminished 7 chord is F, Ab/G#, Cb/B, D.
At the 2nd fret the diminished 7 chord is F#/Gb, A,C Eb/D.#
At the 3rd fret the diminished 7 chord is G, Bb/A#, Db/C#, E.
The diminished 7 chord on the 4th fret is the same as the diminished 7 chord at the 1st fret, and so on.
The easiest way to remember the names of the diminished 7 chord is to simply read off the notes contained in the chord. Conversely if you wish to find a particular diminished chord all you need to do is find that note on the fretboard and form the chord arpeggio around it.
Example 53 uses diminished seventh arpeggio pattern throughout, over two octaves.
Example 54 uses diminished seventh arpeggio patterns +
combined.
The fourth basic chord type is the augmented chord.
The A augmented chord (A+) for example,is based upon the notes of the A major scale.