-byHoward-Roberts

he diminished

scale is simple in

construction,

be considerably

but its application

can

more involved than

other scale types.

Playing the diminished
enough:

Its composed

consecutive

scale is easy
of nothing but

whole- and half-steps.

shows a one-octave

diminished

Ex. 1

starting

on low E; Ex. 2 shows the most obvious

fingering.

the

solo

vo'tce

Youmay have trouble getting the sound of

thediminished
scaleinyour mindsear,solets
do someexercises
to improvethat beforewe
discusshow the scaleis used.First, play a
seriesof half- andwhole-steps
up anddown
eachstringto lockin the sound.Thefingering, shown in Ex 3, iseasy.
Dothisexercise
unul
you can singeachnote before you play it.
Thenplay I%.4 slowlyanddeliberatelyto get
thestructumof thescaleinyour handsandthe
colorin yourears.Totakefull advantage
ofthe
diminishedscale,its soundin variousharmoniccontextshasto becomesecondnature.
That is,you shouldbeableto stopyour solo
line at anypoint--lie freezinga frameof a
film-and singthe nextnotein the line.This
sho& applyto anyimprovisation:Yourtingersare theremerelyto carry out the commandsof your ear,andif your fingersaregettingconfusing
signals
(ornosignals
at all),then
your fingerswill stumblearoundaimlessly.
Playingwellrequireshearingwell.
Ex. 5 showsa diminishedscalein fifth
position(withthe 1stfingeratthe5thfret),and
Ex.6 showsthe fingering.Sincethisinvolves
no openstrings,theformcanbemovedto any
otherposition.Ex.7 isan exercisethat takes
you further into the scale.
Nowletslook at the upperoctaveof the
scaleandconsider
itsapplication.
Thehrststep
is to figureout which scalestepsarerepresented.Ex.8 showsthemin the keyof A (the
tonic of the scale).
What chord residesin the scale?ItsAi,
because
the root,35, andlowered7 (A, C#,E,
GJareprominent.That meansthe scalefits a
dominant chord, but becauseof the other
pitchespresent,itsanaZtere~dominant
chord.
Thealterationsb2(orb9),b3(or#9),andb5(or
#l 1)areallpartof thesequence.
Sothedimiiishedscalecan be played over dominant
chordsandwill yield altered9 andraised1I
sounds.Playthe scaleover the chordsin Ex.
9 to attuneyour earstome alteredsoundsof
the diminishedscalein a dominantcontext.
The secondtype of diminished scale
beginswith awhole-stepratherthan ahalfstep.This changehasharmonic implications,but first letsgetfamiliarwith thescale.
Ex. 10[page561showsthe notes,andEx. 11
givesthe fingering.UseFL 12to train your
earsandfingers.
Tounderstandthisscales
harmonicrole,

1 DIMINISHED CAPACITY
Ex. 1

A
n
y

G yzyu

l/2

Ex. 2

112

8
etc.

Ex. 3

1
3
1

b. 4

Ex. 5

lookat itscontents,asshownin Ex.13.Asyou Ex. 6

cansee,findingadirectuseofthisscaleisgoing
to betricky. WhenplayedoveraD dominant
chord,for instance,
it yieldsbothanaturaland
a raised9, a loweredand a raised5, andlookingat it anotherway-a natural and a

1
2
4

DIMINISHED CAPACITY 1 *he

Ex. 7

sol-

vofice

lowered 6. This high-tension tonal material is

complicated by the major-7th interval between
the tonic and the 7th degree. That sound
doesnt easily fit a dominant-7th chord.
So how can you use this dished
scale?
Actually, its complications make up its best
quality-the potential for giving your solo an
outside sound. Because this scale breaks
the boundaries, it can create a lot of harmonic
propulsion
in dominant contexts. Like a
chromatic scale, its ambiguous, but-unlike
the chromatic scale-it also demands resolution Experiment with the scale over the
chords in EK 14. In these dominant domains,
the major 7 should be used as a passing
tone. When you get a knack for its sound
and feel, use the scale when you want to
place a foot outside.
n

I
I

Ii

Ex. 8
root

b479)

b34-9)

6(13)

b7

Ex.
A7#9

A7#11

A7b5b9

A13b9

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1 DIMINISHED CAPACITY
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Ex.13
1

b3(#9)

b5 b6(#5)W3

h7

Ex.14
D7#9
. R i Burnrlde

. SOnoms
. ot,s RSh

. John Cephal

. Jlrnnl

McDowell

Reed

D7#5

56

tub13

D&s

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HOW TO PLAY GUITAR / JAZZ

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