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Bass chord companion

C Diminished 7 Chord

Learn the C Diminished 7 chord on bass with chord tones, intervals, playable arpeggios, and fretboard maps.

Expand fretboardOpen in App
1Cb3Ebb5Gbbb7Bbb

Bass chord tones and arpeggios

Play these tones one at a time to outline the chord. The maps show the complete formula; the numbered exercises give an ascending path, including extensions in their written octave.

Standard four-string bass: E1 – A1 – D2 – G2. String 4 is low E; string 1 is high G. Fingers 1–4 are index through little finger; 0 is open. Use comfortable hand positions and shift where indicated.

Root on E string

C Diminished 7th complete chord-tone map around string 4, fret 8. Choose individual tones for a bass line.

C Diminished 7th Root on E string bass chord-tone mapC Diminished 7th complete chord-tone map around string 4, fret 8. Choose individual tones for a bass line.EADG78910111b3b5bb71b3b5

Ascending arpeggio

Follow steps 1–4 below. Keep one hand position.

C Diminished 7th Root on E string numbered bass arpeggioAscending complete formula: C2, Eb2, Gb2, Bbb2. Play one numbered note at a time.EADG67891234
StepDegreeNoteString / fretFingerPosition
11C24 / 83Fret 6
2b3Eb23 / 61Fret 6
3b5Gb23 / 94Fret 6
4bb7Bbb22 / 72Fret 6

Root on A string

C Diminished 7th complete chord-tone map around string 3, fret 3. Choose individual tones for a bass line.

C Diminished 7th Root on A string bass chord-tone mapC Diminished 7th complete chord-tone map around string 3, fret 3. Choose individual tones for a bass line.EADG23456b5bb71b3b5bb71

Ascending arpeggio

Follow steps 1–4 below. Keep one hand position.

C Diminished 7th Root on A string numbered bass arpeggioAscending complete formula: C2, Eb2, Gb2, Bbb2. Play one numbered note at a time.EADG12341234
StepDegreeNoteString / fretFingerPosition
11C23 / 33Fret 1
2b3Eb22 / 11Fret 1
3b5Gb22 / 44Fret 1
4bb7Bbb21 / 22Fret 1

Full fretboard map

Every C Diminished 7 Chord chord tone across the neck, with roots highlighted for quick orientation.

Interactive

Frets 0–24. Select a position or tap a note to hear it.

GDBbbEGbBbbCEbGbBbbCEbCEbGbBbbCEbGbBbbEbGbBbbCEbGbBbbCBbbCEbGbBbbCEbGb123456789101112131415161718192021222324

Progression examples using C Diminished 7

Try these progressions to hear the harmony in context. On bass, outline each chord with individual target tones.

Leading-tone diminished seventh to minor

The diminished-seventh root lies a semitone below the destination tonic. Its tones come from that tonic’s harmonic minor scale.

  1. vii°7 C Diminished 7
  2. /i Db Minor

Borrowed diminished seventh to major

Borrow the leading-tone diminished seventh from the destination tonic’s parallel harmonic minor, then resolve into the major chord.

  1. vii°7 C Diminished 7
  2. /I Db Major

Chord Tones

DegreeIntervalNote
1RootC
b3m3Eb
b5d5Gb
bb7d7Bbb

Scales Containing the Complete Formula

C Diminished (Whole-Half)

Complete Formula

1 – b3 – b5 – bb7

Compound degrees retain their names: 9, 11, and 13 are extensions. A voicing may place their pitches in a closer register.

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