-by Howard-Roberts _ T he diminished scale is simple in construction, but its application can be considerably more involved than

other scale types.

Playing the diminished scale is easy

enough: Its composed of nothing but

consecutive whole- and half-steps. Ex. 1

shows a one-octave diminished starting

on low E; Ex. 2 shows the most obvious

fingering.

the solo vo'tce 1 DIMINISHED CAPACITY

You may have trouble getting the sound of Ex. 1 the diminished scale in your minds ear, so lets A do some exercises to improve that before we n

discuss how the scale is used. First, play a y 1 - - - 8 series of half- and whole-steps up and down G each string to lock in the sound. The finger-

yzyu l/2 1 112 1 etc.

ing, shown in Ex 3, is easy. Do this exercise unul you can sing each note before you play it. Then play I%. 4 slowly and deliberately to get Ex. 2 Ex. 3 0

1 the structum of the scale in your hands and the color in your ears. To take full advantage of the diminished scale, its sound in various har- monic contexts has to become second nature. 1 That is, you should be able to stop your solo 3 line at any point--lie freezing a frame of a 1

film-and sing the next note in the line. This sho& apply to any improvisation: Your tin- b. 4 gers are there merely to carry out the com- mands of your ear, and if your fingers are get- ting confusing signals (or no signals at all), then your fingers will stumble around aimlessly. Playing well requires hearing well.

Ex. 5 shows a diminished scale in fifth position (with the 1st finger at the 5th fret), and Ex. 6 shows the fingering. Since this involves no open strings, the form can be moved to any other position. Ex. 7 is an exercise that takes you further into the scale.

Now lets look at the upper octave of the scale and consider its application. The hrst step is to figure out which scale steps are repre- sented. Ex. 8 shows them in the key of A (the tonic of the scale).

What chord resides in the scale? Its Ai, because the root, 35, and lowered 7 (A, C#, E, GJ are prominent. That means the scale fits a dominant chord, but because of the other pitches present, its an aZtere~dominant chord. The alterations b2 (or b9), b3 (or #9), and b5 (or #l 1) are all part of the sequence. So the dimii- ished scale can be played over dominant chords and will yield altered 9 and raised 1 I sounds. Play the scale over the chords in Ex. Ex. 5

9 to attune your ears tome altered sounds of the diminished scale in a dominant context.

The second type of diminished scale begins with a whole-step rather than a half- step. This change has harmonic implica- look at its contents, as shown in Ex. 13. As you Ex. 6 tions, but first lets get familiar with the scale. cansee,findingadirectuseofthisscaleisgoing Ex. 10 [page 561 shows the notes, and Ex. 11 to be tricky. When played over a D dominant V 1 gives the fingering. Use FL 12 to train your chord, for instance, it yields both a natural and 2

ears and fingers. a raised 9, a lowered and a raised 5, and- 4 % To understand this scales harmonic role, looking at it another way-a natural and a

DIMINISHED CAPACITY 1 *he sol- vofice

Ex. 7 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 reso- lution 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

Ex.

root b479) b34-9) 6(13) b7 8

A7#9 A7#11 A7b5b9 A13b9

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Ex.10

Ex.11

Ex.12 Comolete bv ear:

Ex.13

1 2 b3(#9) 4 b5 b6(#5) W3 h7 8

Ex.14

D7#9 tub13 D&s

D7#5 cn#& 3

56 HOW TO PLAY GUITAR / JAZZ