This means that (for example) an A diminished scale contains the same notes as a C diminished scale, an E flat diminished scale, and a G flat diminished scale. The diminished scale is an often misunderstood, even a disliked scalar form. And since each triad has its own inversions (root position, first and second inversion) the possibilities for melodic invention are immense! GuitarCommand.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This arrangement of notes, which fall in minor third intervals, represents a diminished seven arpeggio, which consists of four different notes. The A diminished chord contains the notes A, C and Eb. The diminished scale is often referred to as “whole-half diminished,” which is how I first learned it, in a scale appendix of the highly recommended Jamey Aebersold jazz play-along series of books and audio recordings. Donations will allow me to pay my bills and provide you with great content. It is a symmetrical scale in that it follows a distinct pattern, constructed from a repeated sequence of intervals (major second, minor second). In the same way that we observed for the diminished chord, the diminished scale is repeated every three semitones. The Diminished scale is a symmetrical 8 tone scale known as an octatonic scale. Initially one can look at it as diminishing the 3rd, 5th, 6th, a m7th, and 8th. Although I tend to use diminished-scale ideas primarily in improvisational settings, I occasionally sneak one into a metal solo (such as in Testament’s “More Than Meets the Eye” [hear it below]). Meanwhile, any variation of notes within the diminished scale is movable up and down the neck in minor-third intervals (equal to a three-fret shift on a single string). There was a problem. If you visualize it running up a single string you can see that it is made of alternating 1 and 2 fret gaps. What is a Diminished Scale? It’s formula follows an alternating pattern of whole steps and half steps—whole, half, whole, half—that repeats up to the octave root note, as illustrated in FIGURE 3. GuitarCommand.com also participates in various other affiliate programs, and we may get a commission from purchases made via links from our site. We assign numeric value (an interval) to each note, the scales will use the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Confusion often stems from the misunderstanding of the term, as it is often misused to describe the type of licks found in FIGURE 1. Diagram scales: BA1 1UA. So, a diminished triad can simply be thought of as a minor chord with a flat 5th. By starting with a half step, followed by alternating whole steps and half steps, we get the sole “mode” of the scale, referred to as “half-whole diminished,” as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. That’s a root, minor 3rd, and flat (or diminished) 5th, three minor 3rds in a … Two common ways of playing diminished chords on the guitar are shown below: In these diminished scale diagrams, any of the white circles can be considered to be the root / tonic note of the scale. The decision of whether a diminished seventh chord calls for a whole half diminished scale or a half whole diminished scale is a topic for another discussion. Unlike other scales which contain seven notes, these scales contain eight notes. The Best Jazz Bassists: Who Are The Greatest Jazz Bassists Of All Time? Well, there are really *two* types of diminished scales, whole-half diminished and half-whole diminished. 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