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Hi guys.
Can anyone explain to me how the Diminished scales (whole/half, and Half/whole) work, and what they can be played over? What are your favorite type of chords to play a diminished run/lick over?

Thanks!

Ouch,, use sparingly. Try it over m7, m7b5 , dim, dim7 and even a Maj7, Maj7 #5.
Buy some John Mclaughlin cd's and try not to overuse it!

I like diminished and dim7 arpeggios connecting diatonic chords. Heres a cool exercise you can do that will sound cool and connect every scale degree by a dim chord or arpeggio:

In G

G Maj7
G# dim (or dim7)
A m7
A# dim
B m7
C Maj7
C# dim
D 7
D# dim
E m7
F dim
F# m7b5

So you basically play a diminshed chord, a half step above the root chord?

Well, you play a diminished chord on every chromatic non-scale tone to connect the diatonic chords. Theres no room for one between the iii and IV and vii and I.

If you recorded this progression slow and stayed on each chord for 1 measure switching smoothly, you'll hear a real musical way to used diminished chords. Then try soloing over it using your diminished scales and arpeggios in the appropriate places.

Another great diminished exercise:

Take any diminished 7 chord shape. Heres a good one:

_______*____
_*__|____|___
___|__*__|___
_*__|____|___
___|____|____
___|____|____

Now if you move that chord up the neck 4 frets or a minor third, it is the same 4 notes inverted. You can move it up or down 4 frets and it will always be the same dim7 chord.

Now, take any finger in that chord and drop it 1/2 step. Like this:

__(*)_________
_*__|____|___
___|__*__|___
_*__|____|___
___|____|____
___|____|____

That dropped note will always become the root of a new dominant 7 chord.
Move it up 4 frets, do it again, another dom7 chord.

The pattern repeats after the 4th move, so you've just found 4 places to play a dim7 chord and built 16 new dominant 7 chord shapes off the one shape you know. Now try it using another dim7 shape, etc, etc,, the neck will open up to you real quick.

dirrty craig .... thanks for that 'drop any note in a Dim chord to get a Dom7 chordquot; trick

i've been playing over 25 years and i've never seen that .... very frikkin mind expanding indeed !!!

cheers
t4d

Jeeeesh, thanks. Don't tell too many people though, your going to ruin my drunken rock god image,, LMAO.

your secret's safe with me ... reminds me of when i saw andy timmons wail over some jazz at the natl. guitar summer workshop ... dude with the big poofy blond mane smokin' over the alt dom ii V's ... very cool

cheers
t4d

Practically anytime u see a V - I progression, u can fly diminished licks over the V chord by thinking of the V chord as a V7b9 chord, which is a diminished chord if u sub the b9 for the 1 (chord tone).


Originally Posted by seafoamerPractically anytime u see a V - I progression, u can fly diminished licks over the V chord by thinking of the V chord as a V7b9 chord, which is a diminished chord if u sub the b9 for the 1 (chord tone).oh mighty pale green one, would you give an example of this for those of us for whom the stitching was completed before the stuffing was finished

e.g. for a V - I in G (chords being D7 to Gmaj) ...

grazie,
t4d


Originally Posted by tone4daysoh mighty pale green one, would you give an example of this for those of us for whom the stitching was completed before the stuffing was finished

e.g. for a V - I in G (chords being D7 to Gmaj) ...

grazie,
t4d

Sure. If i wanted to use this quot;flavorquot; for D7 to G , I would think: D7b9 to G. If i replace the root of the D7 chord with the b9 (which is a common practice), the chord spelling would then be D#, F#, A, C, which is the chord spelling for D#, F#, A, amp; C diminished chords. That opens up a lot of possibilities for using all the diminished licks amp; tricks one has collected over the yrs.

Remember: there are only 3 diminished chords in all of music. Each diminished chord can be named from any of it's chord tones, meaning there can only be 3 possible diminished chord spellings.


Originally Posted by seafoamerRemember: there are only 3 diminished chords in all of music. Each diminished chord can be named from any of it's chord tones, meaning there can only be 3 possible diminished chord spellings. Ah, now see thats what I should have said in the first post. Really that says it all seafoamer.

Nothing to add, 'cept: nice job, lads! Well said!

Thanks for all the help guys! I'm starting to understand it more. I'm just having a problem with the actual scale shape. I seen so many different ways of playing the box shape at various sites, that I'm confused where in the pattern the root starts.

It's Whole/half, not half/whole.
The 1st note of the whole step intervals are the roots.

thanks alot mister misty ocean colored man ... will have to hit the shed with this soonest
cheers
t4d

i guess im glad im not the only person that knows that trick with diminished to dominant chords