Although it is hard to insert this scale just anywhere, it sounds exotic when you can use it. It offers a great contrast to the 1-b3-5 minor arpeggio. Once again, we'll spell out the notes/intervals in a diminished minor chord/arpeggio. Then, we'll look at a run that incorporates those notes.

Diminished minor notes

1-b3-b5-6 is the spelling for any diminished minor arpeggio. So, in the key of "D", the notes are D-F-bA-B. That root "D" note could be played at the tenth fret-sixth string, fifth fret-fifth string, etc...the octave is up to you. The "F", "bA" and "E" can also be played in any octave. That is the key to playing multiple octave arpeggios. You have to view them as a set of intervals instead of locations on the neck. Viewing arpeggios as "boxed" positions is extremely limiting if you don't see how the "boxes" are connected.

 

Example

Sweep picking is combined with sliding for maximum effect. The trick here is to be as fluent as possible. This example should be played in straight sixteenth notes. Remember, this run is in the key of "D". You can hear a similar lick on Yngwie Malmsteen's "Far Beyond the Sun". Because this run is merely a repeating pattern that slides up in fourths, be sure to keep the intervals that make up the arpeggio in mind while playing this lick.

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