Arpeggio · D7♯5 · Guitar
The D7♯5 arpeggio is D – F♯ – A♯ – C — chord tones 1 3 ♯5 ♭7. D7♯5 is a dominant that wants extra tension before resolving down a fifth; its sound is floating, whole-tone. Below, every D, F♯, A♯, C on the fretboard is marked, with the root in gold. Press play to hear a one-octave arpeggio, or tap any note.
Visualizer
Guitar · standard tuning
Piano
Play loops the arpeggio up and down one octave (switch Loop off for a single pass) in the position starting at fret 5. Tap any marked note to hear it. “Show” switches or combines the fretboard and keyboard; “Sound” picks the instrument you hear. Audio is synthesized in the browser.
Reference
| Chord tone | Note | Interval from D |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | unison (0 semitones) |
| 3 | F♯ | major 3rd (4 semitones) |
| ♯5 | A♯ | minor 6th (8 semitones) |
| ♭7 | C | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
Goes with: D Whole tone (D E G♭ A♭ B♭ C). Voicings: D7♯5 voicings on guitar.
Common questions
D – F♯ – A♯ – C. As chord tones: 1 3 ♯5 ♭7. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
D7♯5 is a dominant that wants extra tension before resolving down a fifth. Its character is floating, whole-tone.
D Whole tone (D E G♭ A♭ B♭ C) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Start on the root D on the A string at fret 5 and play A-string fret 5, A-string fret 9, D-string fret 8, G-string fret 5, G-string fret 7. Then play it descending, then in eighth notes with a metronome, then over the a dominant that wants extra tension before resolving down a fifth.
Keep going
Same arpeggio on piano · Augmented 7th (7♯5) hub · chord-scale theory.
Other arpeggios from D