After the D chord comes the E minor chord, but we have already mentioned on another article that the diminished chord goes very well as a passing diminished chord between a major and a minor chord (in this case, we would have the Major – Diminished – Minor sequence, being: D, D#°, Em). diminished scale. It sounds crazy, but it is very simple. It is very worthwhile to invest time in this study. For example, the G7 chord is a dominant that resolves in C major. Even more so if you take into account cultures that use quarter-tones. Guitarist Yngwe Malmsteen explores this feature a lot. The notes from two such seventh-chords combination form an octatonic collection. Notes What notes are in the C diminished scale. Chord vi, A minor consists of the notes, A – C – E. A minor seventh consists of the note, A – C – E – G. Lastly, chord vii°, B diminished consists of the notes, B – D – F, while B minor seventh flat five consists of the notes, B – D – F – A. Now it’s time to show the application of this scale, after all, it’s useless to keep talking about it if what really matters is knowing where you can use these concepts! Since B is one semitone below C, we can think that the diminished scale to be used is located one semitone below the chord that the dominant will resolve in. For example, the C diminished scale of the half-step-first type, has the same notes as the half-step-first E ♭ diminished scale as well as the whole-step-first D ♭ diminished scale. Major 2nd. Also, we can simplify and summarize all 12 diminished scales to just 3 scale types : “A” diminished scale, “B” diminished scale and “C” diminished scale “A” diminished scale type “B” diminished scale type “C” diminished scale type. Major 6th. Imagine that your band is playing a song that contains the chords | C | D | Em |, repeated in that sequence. When you hear a certain scale, you probably associate it with something. Unlike other scales which contain seven notes, these scales contain eight notes. Major 7th. The B diminished chord is produced by taking the 1 (root), b3 and b5 of the B Major scale. Start by learning the intervals f… Formula What is the formula for the C diminished scale. Minor 3rd. We assign numeric value (an interval) to each note, the scales will use the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. We are breaking the rule of key signatures: there are an A AND an Ab in it! Create your own musical phrases and get fluent in this topic. It’s common to see the diminished triad and the half-diminished 7th chords (m7♭5), but the m11♭5 is rarely seen. ©2014-2020 All Rights Reserved - Simplifying Theory. There are two diminished scales called the half-whole and whole-half. In most sheet music books, the notation Cdim or C o denotes a diminished seventh chord with root C; but it may also happen, mostly in modern jazz books and some music theory literature, that Cdim or C o denotes a diminished triad (more commonly denoted Cm ♭5), while Cdim 7 or C o7 in these books denotes a diminished seventh chord (corresponding to Cm 6♭5). These CAGED scale patterns help you learn the diminished scale as it relates to standard CAGED chords. This tension gives a sense of release once the progression arrives on its destination chord. Firstly, we are going to learn each scale on one string, so that you can clearly see the pattern. In this case, the tonic (fundamental) of the dominant chord is played (that is, the scale starts with that note) and then the diminished scale is played a semitone above that tonic. Well, let’s say you are improvising a solo in E minor until, at a certain point in the song, the B7 chord appears. It could remind you of something you’ve heard bef… The other 21 diminished scales have the same notes … C half-diminished 7th chord. It is a symmetrical scale in that it follows a distinct pattern, constructed from a repeated sequence of intervals (major second, minor second). See my notes on the m11♭5 chord in the next section. Download Now. Notice now that we used exactly this second sequence on top of the dominant chords, because in the previous example we played the G# diminished scale starting from the G note, that is, the structure was semitone-tone-semitone-tone, etc. Pattern 3 . Combine two minor tetrachords a tritone apart (a tetrachord is a 4-note scale, and a minor tetrachord is basically the first 4 notes of the Dorian minor mode, so for example, combine the first 4 notes of a C- scale with the first 4 notes of an F#- scale) var playNode = document.getElementById('playSemitones686960068'); This is unique to each person. Diminished Scale Theory: How Is It Used? Because there are three ways to select two from three, there are three octatonic scales in the twelve-tone system. For instance, Pattern 1 will correspond to a C chord. A more advanced diminished scale is the Fully Diminished scale (half-step/whole-step). Diminished 5th. The Solution below shows the C half-diminished 7th chord in root position, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd inversions, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef.. The diminished scale is a fantastic feature; has a unique sound and enchants any listener. Intervals What intervals are in the C diminished scale. Another advantage is the repetition of patterns on string instruments. This is very advantageous, as it opens up a very wide range of possibilities. In this case, we are deceiving the listener by making him believe that there is a diminished chord at that point. There are really only 3 diminished scales – C, C#, and D. When we build the scale starting on D# we get the same scale as the C diminished scale, as it is just an inversion of the C diminished scale. Piano Companion It is a flexible chord and scale dictionary with user libraries and a reverse mode. The same is true for the other remaining starting notes. }); This guitar neck shows the notes of the One of the most popular uses for the diminished chord is as a bridge between two other chords. Root Note. The C diminished chord contains the notes C, Eb and Gb. These CAGED scale patterns help you learn the The twelve tones of the chromatic scale are covered by three disjoint diminished seventh chords. As this scale is repeated every three semitones, we can also play the B diminished scale (three semitones above G#). Perfect 4th. As you might imagine, the diminished scale can be played over the diminished chord. Moral of the story: the dom-dim scale is the diminished scale applied on top of the dominant chord. The full diminished scale will use 9 notes. GuitarCharts.playMidiNotes([48,50,51,53,54,56,57,59,60,59,57,56,54,53,51,50,48]); B diminished chords from the C major scale (vii o) B only builds 3 different chords from the C major scale. Okay, and what’s the advantage of that? In other words, it is as if we are “creating” an ascending passing diminished chord. Let’s build a diminished scale: C – D – Eb – F – Gb – Ab – A – B – C. Notice a few things here: this scale has eight notes!! event.preventDefault(); This scale is primarily used in jazz music and works well together with alternate seventh chords. Root: The note upon which a chord is based, no matter its inversion. the intervals repeat in a pattern) Because it is a symmetrical scale (and much like the diminished chord) there are only three unique diminished scales: C = E♭ = G♭ = A diminished scale Listen & Play Along . Take note of the different 7th chords that each diminished mode builds. The below diagrams show you how to play the C Diminished chord in various positions on the fretboard with suggested finger positions.. C Diminished chord attributes: Interval positions with respect to the C major scale, notes in the chord and name variations:. Pattern 1. play notes. That is, instead of the sequence being: tone-semitone-tone-semitone, etc; starting from the second degree, we will have: semitone-tone-semitone-tone, etc. It’s an eight note or octatonic scale that alternates between half-steps and whole-steps. They are never used as a tonic chord, but always as a means of tension towards or suspension of another chord. This will facilitate logic. We are calling a virtual diminished chord a diminished chord that does not exist in the song, but one that could exist. Pattern 2. play notes. The diminished chord works so well for this purpose because it contains a high amount of tension. Initially one can look at it as diminishing the 3rd, 5th, 6th, a m7th, and 8th. We especially recommend that you play the diminished arpeggio in this case, to strengthen this impression that there is a diminished chord there. The C diminished chord is produced by taking the 1 (root), b3 and b5 of the C Major scale. Using enharmonic spellings the diminished scale will have a dim 5th and an aug 5thand is much easier to work with. The B diminished chord (just like all diminished chords) contains the following intervals (starting from the root note): minor 3rd, minor 3rd, tritone (which leads back to the root note). A diminished chord is a collection of notes that always want to resolve. Diminished 7th. Shapes. The first thing to notice is that diminished chords have different ways to resolve, in fact there are three main types of dim chords resolutions you will come across. But as this scale is identical to the D# scale, and D# is much closer to E than C, we can take advantage of this small distance and use the D# diminished scale (instead of C diminished) to make improvisation more fluent. Notes: C Eb Gb Interval structure: R m3 m5 Chord construction: R = C C + minor interval = Eb (scale degree = minor 3rd) Eb + minor interval = Gb (scale degree = flat/diminished 5th) Cdim on other instruments Cdim piano Cdim guitar Cdim ukulele Cdim mandolin Cdim banjo If the G7 chord ever appeared, it would be very practical to think about using the diminished scale one semitone below C, as it is very close to the region where you are playing your solo. Root Note. The Diminished Scale is built upon two diminished seventh chords. I briefly cover those two scales in my Diminished Modes, Chords & Scale article. it has 8 notes) A Symmetrical Scale (i.e. Another application of this scale, in addition to being able to be played over the diminished chord and the dominant chord as we have already seen, is the application over a “virtual diminished chord”. Follow the logic: Since this scale is repeated every three semitones, we can think about playing it starting from others degrees. The diminished scale is a type of 8-note symmetrical scale. These scales are developed mathematically using whole and half steps. That’s right, don’t be alarmed! An Octatonic Scale (i.e. Dominant Diminished Scale Pattern. The I-ii bridge. A diminished resolves naturally to the C chord. Cdim7 (C diminished seventh) Piano sound: Notes and structure: C Eb Gb A (R m3 m5 6) Related Chords: Cº7\A; Chord Categories: diminished chord with a double flat 7 (6th) 7th chord : Other Notations: Cº Cdim Cdim7 Cdim/6 Cdim(add6) Cdim7 on other instruments: Cdim7 piano Cdim7 guitar Cdim7 ukulele Cdim7 mandolin Cdim7 banjo Scale intervals: 1 - b3 - b5 Notes in the chord: C - Eb - Gb Various names: Cdim - C diminished There are scales that I’ll never play and scales that I’ll probably never even hear. View tab @ http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/LJ3/c-diminished-scale.html we will learn about the C Diminished Scale. The most common application of the diminished scale is in the dominant chord. We will see this concept applied in the examples. Again, once this shape is under your fingers, put on a G7b9 backing track and solo using both the 6th and 5th-string shifting shapes as you take these scales to the improvising side of your practice routine. Since this scale is repeated every three semitones, let’s check the diminished scale of D#: Note that, although these two scales start on different notes (one starts in C and the other starts in D#), both have the same notes. Songtive is based on user feedback from Piano Companion and Chord Progression builder. Minor 6th. This dom-dim scale is nothing more than the diminished scale shape that we showed starting from the second degree instead of the first. Minor 3rd: An interval of three half steps above the root note (compared to four half steps with a major third). Diminished Fifth: Six half steps above the root (compared to seven half steps with a perfect 5th). All three are composed of the same eight pitches: C–D ♭ –E ♭ –E ♮ –F ♯ –G–A–B ♭ –C. The last scale shape you will learn in this lesson is a shifting dominant diminished scale with the root note on the 5th string. The diminished scale used on top of G7 is the G# diminished scale (one semitone up from the dominant). In the C Diminished Scale this would be C - Eb - Gb - A (Cdim7) and D - F - Ab - B (Ddim7). In the same way that we observed for the diminished chord, the diminished scale is repeated every three semitones. The diminished scale is an eight note scale. For instance, Pattern 1 will correspond to a C chord. C - D - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - A - B. You can make up a phrase on the diminished scale and repeat it every three semitones, creating a very interesting effect. This should not be strange, after all it is the diminished scale that forms the diminished chord. But each person has their own preference. This is difficult to remember. Therefore, don’t think that they are different scales, just consider that it is the same diminished scale, only applied on top of the dominant (played a semitone above it). An altered scale on C contains the notes: * C (root), * D♭ (minor ninth) * D♯ (augmented ninth) * E (major third) * F♯ (augmented eleventh) or G♭ (diminished fifth) * G♯ (augmented fifth) or A♭ (minor thirteenth) * B♭ (minor seventh). F# is the root of F#dim; B is the root of Bdim, and so on. See an example of shape for the dimished scale of C below. Obviously, we are not creating another bar, the diminished chord is just dividing the same bar as D. Okay, this song doesn’t have this diminished chord, but we could play the sequence without any problems: | C | D D#° | Em | instead of just playing | C | D | Em |, or even | C | D#° | Em | (completely suppressing the D chord). The C diminished chord (just like all diminished chords) contains the following intervals (starting from the root note): minor 3rd, minor 3rd, tritone (which leads back to the root note). This guitar neck shows the notes of the diminished scale. This is very advantageous, as it opens up a very wide range of possibilities. Because of that it is also commonly referred to as the whole-half diminished scale. Then the student thinks: “Why am I going to waste time memorizing this scale if I will never use it?” And this is absolutely right! Minor 3rd. There are two types of diminished scales: Whole Half Diminished: 1 2 b3 4 b5 #5 6 7; Half Whole Diminished: 1 b9 #9 3 #11 5 13 b7; These can be used as a tension device in improvisation and are a totally different sound than the more common major and minor scales. Adopt a reference point that makes you feel comfortable and practice using this scale in a musical context. diminished scale as it relates to standard CAGED chords. Many authors reinforce that there are two diminished scales: the diminished scale that we have already shown and the dominant diminished scale (or dom-dim scale). Some also refer to this as the double diminished scale because it can be conceptualized as alternating between two diminished arpeggios (C, Eb, F#, A and C#, E, G, Bb). And the listener accepts it, because this progression is very pleasant! 2M - 2m - 2M - 2m - 2M - 1A - 2M - 2m. The diminished scale pattern is a whole – half step repeating pattern. There is no point in memorizing things that will not be applied in practice. Thinking about a scale one semitone above G7 can slow our response a little when improvising. Mathematically, there must be a finite number of scales, but scales seem pretty infinite to me. We will explain this concept. The diminished scale is a symmetric scale formed by the sequence: Tone – Semitone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Semitone – Tone. Hence “octatonic”! This is one of the advantages. There are 3 ways to think about constructing the scale that corresponds to the diminished chord: 1. As you may have guessed from their names, the formula for the half-whole diminished scale is up a half step or semi-tone, then up a whole step or tone. Therefore, the expected chord to resolve this tension is the C chord, which contains these two notes found (C and E, first and third degrees of the chord, respectively). Accords de 3 notes, les différentes notations (exemple pour Do) Nom Intervalles Symboles * Do majeur 3 ma (=tierce majeure) + 5 (=quinte) C CΔ C ma C maj Do augmenté 3 ma + 5 aug (=quinte augmentée) C+ C aug C#5 Do mineur 3 m (= tierce mineure) + 5 C m C mi C-C min Do diminué 3 m + 5 dim (=quinte diminuée) C dim C° Cb5 The diminished scale is an eight-note scale that is built by picking a tonic note, and then alternating whole steps and half steps from that starting note. I want to focus on the diminished modes that come from the Melodic & Harmonic minor scales. It is at this point that most students give up, after all the diminished chord does not appear as often in most musical styles; and when it does, it is mostly for a very short period, with no time for a diminished “phrase” to be developed. It can be played a semitone above the dominant chord in question. In the same way that we observed for the diminished chord, the diminished scale is repeated every three semitones. The diminished scale is a symmetric scale formed by the sequence: Tone – Semitone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Semitone – Tone. Notes: C, E♭, G♭ C°, Cmb5, Cmo5, C dim, C Diminished (1st inversion) Notes: E♭, G♭, C. C°, Cmb5, Cmo5, C dim, C Diminished (2nd inversion) Notes: G♭, C, E♭ Did you know? The cool thing is that this passing diminished is so well accepted in this context that we can make a solo as if this chord were there, even if it is not there. Here i… playNode.addEventListener('click', function (event) { Imagine that you are improvising a solo in a song that is in C major, that is, you are using the C major scale. This is written below in musical notation with the essential chordtones coloured black and the non-essential altered chordtones coloured red. As we will see later, you can use the C diminished scale over B7. If the G7 chord resolved in a chord other than C, we would have a deceptive resolution. C D D# F F# G# A B play notes In other words, learn the scale construction first before getting bogged down with fingerings. Each scale connotes something different. This is just one way of thinking, and it can be very useful in practice. To help you visualize how the diminished scale is constructed, here is a chart that lays out the interval structure for this scale. So far, no new concepts here. See later, you probably associate it with something | Em |, repeated in that sequence it! 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