In Deep With - The Diminished Scale (s)

So we're well into 2018 now and that means following my practice plan as laid out in my New Year's Resolution post back in January.. and that has led me to the diminished scale!

Now, there are two types of diminished scale, and for most of this blog post we'll be focusing on the half step/ whole step diminished – this is exacty as it sounds, a scale put together from a repeating pattern of semitone and tone intervals. Looking at it from the A root note, we wind up with this:

A – semitone – Bb – tone -C – semitone – Db – tone – Eb semitone – E – tone – F# - semitone – G – tone – A

Viewed from the traditional perspective of root, 2^nd, 3^rd etc., we get this:

R – b2 – b3 – b4 – b5 – 5 – 6 – b7.

Now, this actually makes for a very usable set of notes. For blues players, you have the b7, b5 and 5, as well as the b3, aaaand... the b4. Now the b4 is effectively the major 3^rd, so that gives the interplay between minor and major 3^rd which is so crucial for blues, jazz, rock, country etc. This makes it really a quite effective substitute for the blues scale (R-b3-4-b5-5-b7), and the minor pentatonic (R-b3-4-5-b7).

Not only that, but the presence of the 6^th and b7 gives you shades of the Dorian mode, the b2 and b3 gives you elements of the Phrygian, and the b5 can imply Locrian.

Moving to a chordal perspective, this scale yields up a hell of a lot of triads:

A C Eb – A diminished

A C E – A minor

Bb Db E – Bb diminished

C Eb Gb – C diminished

C Eb G – C minor

Db E G - Db diminished

Eb Gb A – Eb diminished

Eb Gb Bb – Eb minor

Eb G Bb – Eb

E G Bb – E diminished

F# A C – F# diminished

F# Bb Db – F#

G Bb Db - G diminished

And when we extend out to 7ths, the palette gets even bigger:

A C Eb Gb – A diminished 7

A C Eb G – Am7b5

A C E G – Am7

Bb Db E G – Bb diminished 7

C Eb Gb A – C diminished 7

C Eb Gb Bb – Cm7b5

C Eb G Bb – Cm7

Db E G Bb – Db diminished 7

Eb Gb A C – Eb diminished 7

Eb Gb A Db - Ebm7b5

Eb Gb Bb Db – Ebm7

Eb G Bb Db – Eb7

E G Bb Db – E diminished 7

F# A C Eb – F# diminished 7

F# A C E – F#m7b5

F# A C# E – F#m7

F# A# C# E – F#7

G Bb Db E – G diminished 7

In terms of modes, the symmetrical nature of the diminished scale means there are only two – the half/ whole and the whole/ half, and each contains the other – for example, Bb whole/ half is contained within A half/ whole. But this symmetry also means something else – A half/ whole also contains C, Eb and Gb half/ whole scales and Bb, Db, E and G whole/ half.

A half / whole: A Bb C Db Eb E Gb G

C half / whole: C Db Eb E Gb G A Bb

Eb half / whole: Eb E Gb G A Bb C Db

Gb half / whole: Gb G A Bb C Db Eb E

So A diminished can therefore be a good fit over C Blues, Eb Dorian and Gb minor pentatonic!

Obviously it's not as simple as slapping a diminished scale over the top and hoping for the best, so in the meantime here are some practice exercises to familiarise yourself with this scale and listen to Robben Ford, Allan Holdsworth and Larry Carlton (among others) to hear how these players get the best out of what at first seems a dauntingly complex scale. But remember, like everything in music – it's simpler than you think!