Are you a guitarist? If so, here are 6 epic diminished arpeggios that you’ll love to play.
I use these 6 shapes in my guitar playing all the time, and I’m sure they will benefit you greatly! Especially if you love the iconic sound of diminished shredding.
And remember: you can move any of these diminished arpeggios in minor 3rds, which means moving 3 frets away, up or down the fretboard.
Table of Contents
Diminished arpeggios examples 1, 2, 3 and 4
Note: Measure 2 is note labelled, but it counts as arpeggio 2.
Arpeggio 1: This is a one-octave diminished arpeggio. Play it using this simple picking pattern: down, down, hammer-on. I recommend using fingers 3, 1, and 4 to play it.
Arpeggio 2: These are single-string, string skipping diminished arpeggios played on the G and high e strings a minor 3rd apart. Play them with hammer-ons using fingers 1, 2, and 4 on your fretting hand.
Arpeggio 3: This is a diminished sweep arpeggio using triplets. You’ll sweep this arpeggio using the 6 following pick strokes: Down, down, down, up, pull-off, up. This is similar to how neoclassical guitarists, like Yngwie Malmsteen, would play diminished arpeggios.
Arpeggio 4: This is a diminished sweep arpeggio using 16th notes. You’ll sweep this arpeggio using the 8 following pick strokes: Down, hammer-on, down, down, up, pull-off, up, up.
Diminished arpeggios: examples 5 and 6
Arpeggio 5: This example is a diminished 7th arpeggio played using groups of 6. I recommend playing this with a combination of alternate picking and hammer-ons, but there are a lot of ways to play it, so keep an open mind. As for the fretting hand, for each individual group of 6 use these fingers in this order: fingers 1, 4, 1, 3, 1, 4.
Arpeggio 6: This is a simple tapped diminished arpeggio. Try moving it 3 frets up and down the fretboard on a single-string. To play it: Tap the 15th fret, pull-off to your 1st finger, then hammer-on to the 12th fret with your 4th finger.