F♯ half-diminished arpeggio on guitar

F♯ · A · C · E

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 13 · Sevenths.

The notes

  1. F♯1
  2. A♭3
  3. C♭5
  4. E♭7

The F♯ half-diminished arpeggio is F♯, A, C, E.

You may also see it called 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7.

On the staff

F♯GABCDEF♯

On a treble staff, the F♯ half-diminished arpeggio is written F♯ A C E.

The solid notes are the F♯ half-diminished arpeggio. The pale notes are the rest of F♯ locrian, the larger scale it is carved out of, so you can see which notes it leaves out.

Why the F♯ half-diminished arpeggio has this sharp

  1. F♯1
  2. T+S
  3. A♭3
  4. T+S
  5. C♭5
  6. 4
  7. E♭7
  8. T
  9. F♯8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is T+S T+S 4 T: a tone and a half, a tone and a half, 4, and so on. T stands for a tone, which is two semitones. T+S stands for a tone and a half, which is three semitones. 4 stands for a step of four semitones. The pattern is what gives F♯ half-diminished its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.

This scale has only four notes, so it does not use every letter. It is F♯ locrian with some notes taken out, and it keeps that scale's spelling exactly.

Apart from the tonic, no note needs a sharp or a flat, because every other letter already falls where the pattern needs it.

The F♯ half-diminished arpeggio is written with F♯. Only the tonic carries an accidental, and that comes from the key you picked rather than from the T+S T+S 4 T pattern of steps.

The pattern of steps is the part of a scale that never changes. The letter names take sharps or flats to fit that pattern, and a key signature is a record of those sharps or flats.

On the piano

♭5C♭6D♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5C♭6D♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5C♭6D♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5C♭6D♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5CC♯D♯1F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯1F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯1F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯1F♯G♯A♯C2C3C4C5C6

The keyboard shows the same four notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the F♯ half-diminished arpeggio, the pale keys are the rest of F♯ locrian, and you can click any key to hear it.

F♯ half-diminished arpeggio on the whole neck

EADGBE123456789101112131415E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1A♭3C♭5E♭7F♯1

47 notes of the F♯ half-diminished arpeggio are marked across six strings.

This is every place the notes of the F♯ half-diminished arpeggio fall on the guitar, with each note's name and its scale degree. The roots are marked so you can find your bearings.

Position by position

Position 1 — starts on the 1
EADGBE2345671♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭71♭3
Position 2 — starts on the ♭3
EADGBE5678910♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭7♭71♭3♭5
Position 3 — starts on the ♭5
EADGBE8910111213♭5♭71♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭7
Position 4 — starts on the ♭7
EADGBE121314151617♭71♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭71

The F♯ half-diminished arpeggio has four playable positions, at frets 2–6, 5–9, 8–12 and 12–16.

Each shape starts on a different degree of the scale and fits inside five frets, so your hand can play all of it without moving.

One climb up the neck

EADGBE23456789101112131♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭7TAB25374759710812

The climb runs from fret 2 to fret 12 and plays twelve notes.

This is one path from the lowest root to the top of the neck, and it plays each note once, never on two strings. It takes two notes on every string. The widest stretch on any one string is four frets.