The Summit 2V1 Basecamp

Diminished Scale Harmony

The diminished scale is an important scale used frequently in jazz. It is very harmonically colorful since it has 4 half-steps and 4 tritone intervals. We’ll cover the whole-half and half-whole step types and their associated chords. (continued)

Diminished scales are composed of alternating half and whole steps (or whole and half steps). This structure leads to there being only three unique scales to learn:

Dim Scale 1: C, D, Eb, F, F#, Ab, A, B
Dim Scale 2: C#, Eb, E, F#, G, A, Bb, C
Dim Scale 3: D, E, F, G, Ab, Bb, B, C#

Diminished scales are associated with diminished chords and dominant 7(b9) chords. There is sometimes confusion about whether to play the H-W scale or the W-H scale along with a given chord. The scale that goes with a diminished chord ascends with the WHOLE step first, while the scale that goes with a dominant 7(b9) chord ascends with the HALF step first.

Examples:
The scale for Cdim is C, D, Eb, F, F#, Ab, A, B
The scale for C7(b9) is C, Db, D#, E, F#, G, A, Bb

This assures that you get the major 3rd, dominant 7th, and b9 while playing over the C7(b9) chord (and not while playing over the Cdim chord).

The dim scale has some special properties. It is a symmetrical scale, meaning it is made out of a repeating pattern so there are less than 12 unique ones. Anything that is played in the dim scale can be shifted by a minor 3rd and still be in the scale. We often hear soloists taking advantage of this shifting property.

Also see Improvising Over Dominant 7 (b9) Chords

Posted by brad under Music Theory |