The exercises of this last file are in diminished scale of a. What comes to mind when you hear the word diminished. Each note in a diminished arpeggio is a minor 3rd 3 halfsteps away from the next. The scales and patterns shown in this lesson are based on the halfwhole versions of the diminished scales. This form of the diminished scale is generally referred to as the halfwhole diminished scale. Barry harriss sixth diminished scale heres a great excerpt from a barry harris workshop where he introduces an interesting diminished concept, which he jokingly calls his personal scale. This scale is great for using in finger exercises because it is symetrical. There are only three diminished scales, and you repeat the same notes every minor third. For instance a diminished scale interval map would be w h w h w h w h. Eb mixolydian scale b wholehalf diminished scale part 1. In order to benefit as much as possible from these. The diminished scale is an important scale used in jazz but can also be used in blues. Make up your own exercises similar to these using various combinations of chord tones and scale pieces and remember their purpose. Sample diminished scale exercise see link below to download pdf version of this exercise etudes.
In classical theory in contrast to jazz theory, this scale is commonly called the octatonic scale or the octatonic collection, although there are a total of 42 nonenharmonically equivalent, non. Diminished harmony works as a base or a spine to all harmonic movement. These can be used as a tension device in improvisation and are a totally different sound than the more common major and minor scales. Ill also give a few basic exercises and some melodic ideas that i might use when i use the scale in an improvisation. When studying diminished scales, one of the most interesting concepts that you can explore is the use of both dim7 and dominant 7th arpeggios through this scale because you can solo over dim7 chords with the diminished scale, it is no surprise that you can use dim7 arpeggios built from this scale. The scales in this group include the chromatic scale, the diminished scale, the whole tone scale, and the augmented scale. Practice now the diminished scale in this base download the file. Basically im taking notes from the ab whole half diminished scale using the 3 concept. So you can study everything carefully and easily find the content, also, everything will be linked to different sections such as arpeggios and bass chords. The diminished scale is an eightnote scale that is built by picking a tonic note, and then alternating whole steps and half steps from that starting note. This is most commonly referred to as the wholehalf diminished scale. This is called the thumb over technique by chuan c. Diminished patterns jazz piano diminished scale patterns.
It produces a very cool jazz sound by a quite unexpected means. There were several pages at the beginning of each volume presented in the key of c only, with the heading of daily exercises. Often the flat 9th on a half diminished chord is treated as passing tone due to its dissonant quality. Upsidedown scale studies for improvisation upsidedown. The dominant diminished scale can be applied to the v7 chord in a 251 chord progression, as well as the vi7b9 chord in any tune you are improvising on, which you will often see in a rhythm changes and jazz blues progression. Symmetric scales have an even number of notes and repeated intervals or interval sequences. If you alternate major and minor seconds and start with a major second it is called the diminished scale. A diminished scale is a 8 tone scale that has intervals that alternate between wholesteps and halfsteps. I suggest to use it just on the dominant 7th and diminished 7th chord in a jazz context. Many of us may not be aware though that you can also use dominant. Whole stephalf step diminished scales are the same configuration of notes except that you start the scale with a whole step rather than a half step. But whereas when we climb a ladder we need only focus on one rung at a time, a scale should be built.
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. Aug 15, 2001 the diminished scale can be very useful. When you consider its exotic sound, the mystery grows. Jul 11, 2016 the diminished scale has a few different names, including the octatonic scale and the halfwhole scale, but theyre all the same scale. When applied to a dominant 7 it includes several nice extensions and chromatic notes. This lesson will shortly describe the augmented scale, how it is constructed and some of the arpeggios it contains. Diminished arpeggios guitar diagrams diminished arpeggio horizontal fretboard diagram diminished arpeggio theory skip this bit if you want to get to the tabs. Many people first learn to improvise using major and blues scales, and so we are used to learning scales that have a different scale for. Treble clef 15 exercises for diminished scale technique. All of the exercises in this book are in the same key.
This means that the scales are constructed using a. Diminished scale training the tonality of this baking track is in d minor. Dominant diminished scales diminished blues overview. This scale is especially useful for dealing with diminished chords. In example 3 i have written out some simple exercises so you can hear how it sounds. The downloadable pdf presented here employs the c minor 6th diminished scale. The formula is half tone, whole tone throughout the scale, hence the reason it is sometimes called the halftonewholetone scale. This scale specifically corresponds with a 7b9 or b9 dominant chord. Can walt weiskopf teach us the ultrahip sound of the. Feb, 2017 for the uninitiated, a basic bebop scale is a major scale with an added passing tone between the 5th and 6th scale degrees ab in c maj.
The bass scales exercises will be distributed in different posts, one different for each scale. In this bass bit i will walk you through another sequence of seconds in this case major and minor seconds alternate. In these diminished scale diagrams, any of the white circles can be considered to be the root tonic note of the scale. May 18, 2010 make up your own exercises similar to these using various combinations of chord tones and scale pieces and remember their purpose. The patterns in this book are very closely related to the following chords. Barry harriss sixth diminished scale cochrane music. The word scale comes from the latin word scala, which means ladder. In this lesson i am going to go over how i use triads for dominant 7th lines and also go over some exercises to get some new ideas for the lines. In classical music the melodic minor scale is played going up and the natural minor scale is played going down. Jul 04, 2008 a diminished scale is a 8 tone scale that has intervals that alternate between wholesteps and halfsteps. It is constructed from two augmented triads a half step apart. In this new lesson series called conquering the diminished scale, your goal is learn the diminished scale to complete mastery.
First and foremost, piano fingerings are simple logic. Major scale patterns, diminished scale patterns, and exercises for improving your saxophone tone, technique, and jazz improvisation. The diminished scale is a type of 8note symmetrical scale. The diminished scale can be created by stacking two diminished 7th chords a halfstep apart on top of one another. The sixnote chord is contained within an octatonic scale. These practical drills cover both sets of rh fingerings ascending and descending in one octave exercises.
It is also a socalled symmetrical scale since the intervals are consistent. The second example to the right identifies the dominant chords most associated with that particular scale. Minor 6th diminished scale arpeggios 12 keys is a 26 page mini ebook of arpeggio exercises in all keys, based on the eight note scale system originally termed the bebop scale by jazz education pioneer, the late david baker, and noted pianist educator barry harris, who coined it the 6th diminished scale. Advanced chromatic and diminished scale piano fingerings. The dominant diminished scale consists of eight notes, and therefore belongs to the category of octatonic scales. The melodic minor scale is closely related to the major scale with its natural 6 and 7. Because of that it is also commonly referred to as the wholehalf diminished scale. Triads of the diminished scale part 1 one of the best approaches to make melodic lines with a synthetic scale like the diminished scale is to use the triads contained in the scale. Upsidedown scale studies for improvisation upsidedown scale. The halfdiminished the halfdiminished chord a minor seventh chord with a flattened fifth occurs as a fournote chord on the seventh degree of the major scale, on the second degree of the harmonic minor scale and on the sixth and seventh degree of the ascending form of the melodic minor scale.
Walts book contains 12 etudes that incorporate the diminished scales from a blues, latin, rhythm changes, and other standard jazz chord progressions. Start by visualizing and ingraining the minor third relationship of the diminished chord tones in every key there are only 3. If you take the ab whole half diminished scale and compare it to this chord you are getting the. This means that the scales are constructed using a repeated pattern of half and whole steps. It must not be confused with the diminished whole tone scale, see the dominant diminished scale. In this video i will go over how i improvise over a diminished chord and give you the tools and. But rememberyou dont have to do everything at once. A whole stephalf step diminished scale applies to diminished chords. Halfdiminished scales are the same as a major scale 12 step above. In this 5minute masterclass were going to take a look into the diminished chord and scale. In bela bartoks piano piece, diminished fifth from mikrokosmos, octatonic collections form the basis of the pitch content. Diminished scales and chords are a very important subject.
Dominant diminished scales diminished blues overview with. Notice that the scale has eight unique notes, thus the name. Mar 02, 20 this exercise plays the 8 note scale ascending with an extra 9th note at the top which then sets you up to play the next scale of the set ascending beginning every 2 measures. Oct 26, 2004 for special effect you can also play a diminished scale on a major seventh i chord. However, the term most often refers to the symmetric scale composed of alternating whole and half steps, as shown at right. It is symmetrical, unlike the major scale, and this alone gives it a certain mystery. For those who are familiar with the so called bebop scale this may not come as a revelation. The reason for this added half step is so that when the scale is played in eighth or sixteenth notes. Notice the minor third symetry from chord to chord. I found these etudes to have phrases that i would incorporate into my own playing while also. The dominant diminished scale is used to solo over dominant 7th chords, or more specifically 7b9 chords. Runs built on diminished scales applied to altered. Diminished arpeggios have a number of interesting features. The diminished scale can be divided into two modes called fully.
Mar 09, 2016 improvisation exercises, using diminished scale runs and patterns. For the uninitiated, a basic bebop scale is a major scale with an added passing tone between the 5th and 6th scale degrees ab in c maj. There 3 different diminished scale sets with which can played as either halfstepwholestep ascending or wholestephalfstep. Although knowing a few diminished lines and patterns is nice, wouldnt it be incredible to really learn the diminished scale, how to use it, and how to improvise with it creating new and fresh lines in the moment. Apr 08, 2016 10 diminished patterns and a lifetime of work. Diminished scales on guitar halfwhole and wholehalf. Then pick one of the 10 diminished patterns and take it into the practice room for a week.
Diminished scale it is made only by a sequence of half step semitone and whole step tone. A trumpetspecific, embouchurebuilding supplement to craig fraedrichs scale studies for improvisation. Wait, is it wholesteps and halfstepsor the other way around. The half diminished the half diminished chord a minor seventh chord with a flattened fifth occurs as a fournote chord on the seventh degree of the major scale, on the second degree of the harmonic minor scale and on the sixth and seventh degree of the ascending form of the melodic minor scale. Because of the symmetry of the diminished scale there are only 2 different patterns. The diminished scale is also referred to as the wholehalf diminished scale due to the fact it is constructed by every second whole and half steps notice also that it is a symmetrical scale. This exercise plays the 8 note scale ascending with an extra 9th note at the top which then sets you up to play the next scale of the set ascending beginning every 2 measures. Diminished scale theory music theory online easy with. Phrases on diminished and halfdiminished chords in all 12 keys exercise concepts. To help you visualize how the diminished scale is constructed, here is a chart that lays out the interval. Improvisation exercises, using diminished scale runs and patterns.
Secrets of the diminished scale learn jazz standards. Building the scale in stages an important and original feature of this book is that scales are built up in stages, with notes added in a particular harmonic order. Runs built on diminished scales applied to altered dominant chords. As you may know the diminished scale can have any root note, there are only three sets of fingerings to learn. Diminished scale exercise halfstepwholestep sax never. The diminished scale has a few different names, including the octatonic scale and the halfwhole scale, but theyre all the same scale. The diminished scale belongs to a group of scales called symmetric scales. Diminished scale on one page diminished mi3 patterns.
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