Check out my free video lessons on my free lessons page. The diminished scale is used to solo over diminished chords. Clicking on the graphics will start playback of the integrated sound. It is constructed from two augmented triads a half step apart. For each scale, you can learn a number of different shapes and patterns, depending on the zone of the fretboard youre working on. The diminished scale is a type of 8note symmetrical scale. The diminished scale is one of the most useful and versatile tools for jazz improvisers. Make sure that you download the accompanying pdf which will help you practice the scale slowly until you get it under your fingers and in your ears. Advanced fingerstyle guitar arpeggio exercise fingerstyle. Sep 11, 2018 scales and some intros to songs i practice regularly.
It has been covered on ljs before, but i want to try to offer an additional perspective on how to think about and use this scale. They are symmetric in nature, so they have actually more than one beginning. One hour of scales will be of more benefit than many other strenuous, and. The right way to use the diminished scale learn jazz standards. Dec 12, 2017 this is the type of fingerstyle guitar arpeggio we are going to learn today. These are not lessons, but supplements to my lessons. The ebook contains the most important scales for beginners, such as major and minor, but shows also more advanced. You can download a pdf and read the article on my blog via this.
But rememberyou dont have to do everything at once. We will be applying the concept of fingerstyle guitar arpeggio over this two chords. Think of runs as playing a given scale in straight sequence e. High graphic resolution enables printing of best quality large format printouts. The diminished scale is used to solo over diminished 7 dim7 chords. For some reason, the diminished scale sparked an interest in me. A diminished arpeggio is simply a stack of minor thirds. The diminished chord is built out of minor 3rds 3 semitones. Tell your fellow guitarist, friends, family, colleagues and pets. The diminished scale is an important scale used in jazz but can also be used in blues. The bass scales exercises will be distributed in different posts, one different for each scale. A diminished scale is a 8 tone scale that has intervals that alternate between wholesteps and halfsteps.
It is symmetrical, unlike the major scale, and this alone gives it a certain mystery. This ebook pdf with audio files contains 25 dominant diminished jazz guitar patterns using the halfwhole diminished scale and diminished 7th arpeggios. His didactic work is of greater value than his diminished output as a composer, although his school of the guitar is an inorganic set of studies without a progressive logic. This means there is harmonic movement occuring around these chords. Heres a free guitar scales pdf ebook 22 pages with plenty of scales and arpeggios patterns. In this lesson, you will learn how to build, play, and apply the diminished scale. Or, if you have some experience playing jazz guitar, you might want to skip around a bit, finding relevant chapters and exercises to what you are currently studying. When first exploring diminished scales on guitar, it is easy to confuse these two scales. 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. To get the most from the following exercises, play them strong and slowly at first and then lightly and faster. Diminished scales on guitar halfwhole and wholehalf.
Diminished scale on one page diminished mi3 patterns. The diminished scale is different from the dominant diminished scale, which alternates half and whole steps and is used to solo over dominant 7b9 chords when first exploring diminished scales on guitar, it is easy to confuse these two scales. This arrangement of notes, which fall in minor third intervals, represents a diminished seven arpeggio, which consists of four different notes. Start by visualizing and ingraining the minor third relationship of the diminished chord tones in every key there are only 3. In these diminished scale diagrams, any of the white circles can be considered to be the root tonic note of the scale. If you alternate major and minor seconds and start with a major second it is called the diminished scale.
The first arpeggio you are going to play is the e minor on the 4th string. If i start with a whole step, this is called the diminished scale. We can use this scale to transition from the four chord to the one chord in a standard 12 bar blues progression. Mar 08, 2017 the diminished scale is one of the most useful and versatile tools for jazz improvisers. Use my search bar to find exactly what youre looking for. Apr 08, 2016 10 diminished patterns and a lifetime of work. Oct 18, 2007 we will learn about the c diminished scale. Ill also give a few basic exercises and some melodic ideas that i might use when i use the scale in an improvisation. Half whole step diminished scale positions and arpeggios part 2 lesson resources. Learn how to play diminished arpeggios on guitar, then play example diminished licks.
Note that the top four notes of this scale are the same as the straight dominant scale the bit you have to work on is the bottom f our notes. 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. Click here to download this free printable guitar scales chart pdf to your computer. Guitar lovers manual is a digital book with sound in pdf format for printing purposes. It produces a very cool jazz sound by a quite unexpected means. 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. Unlike the modes, the diminished scale is built from a continuously symmetrical intervallic sequence as each fournote group progresses. Lesson material from video lesson part 1 on 12 whole diminished scale. Your plan should cover several days and allow for varied work on each. When you consider its exotic sound, the mystery grows. The 3 bars mentioned above are the most obvious choices for using the diminished scale in a iivv blues.
The scales and patterns shown in this lesson are based on the halfwhole versions of the diminished scales. Diminished scale using triads jazz guitar lesson youtube. Exploring the diminished scale with alex skolnick guitar. Guitar arpeggio handbook bonus lessons arpeggiobased guitar licks that you can apply in the. Triadic shapesarpeggio shapesdiatonic scale patternsdiminished cell patternschromatic approach notes and enclosures. Guitar lovers manual chord, arpeggio and scale pdf with. The aim of this series is to get all your fingers moving in every possible way around a scale, so youll be ready for any movement a scale pattern might. To practice connecting the dom7th arpeggio you go through exercises like the one i have written out here below. It contains the sections chord, scale and arpeggio. If you do the math thats 24 places you can use the diminished scale 8. Barry harriss sixth diminished scale cochrane music. Scale diminished 1,2,b3,4,b5,b6,6,7 fullth pattern root note d guitar tuning. Digital download 15 exercises for diminished scale techniquephrases on diminished and halfdiminished chords in all 12 keysexercise concepts.
Digital download 15 exercises for diminished scale techniquephrases on diminished and half diminished chords in all 12 keysexercise concepts. The diminished scale book for guitar free download as pdf file. The diminished scale is one of the defining sounds of jazz. What i mean by that is that, for example, the e diminished scale also contains the notes of the g diminished scale, the b flat diminished scale and the c sharp or d flat diminished scale. This means that the scales are constructed using a. Notice the minor third symetry from chord to chord. This is largely because dominant 7th chords are chords of transition. This scale is great for using in finger exercises because it is symetrical.
Once you have them down, use a drum machine to make up licks and get it sounding musical. 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. If you play a standard drop3 c7 in the 8th fret and then drop out the root on the e string. In the pdf below you will find suggested positions for the 12 whole step diminished scale. Of course you can play the diminished halfwhole over every dominantseventh chord, but if you do this in a simple blues progression, you will stop sounding bluesy. Diminished scale using triads modern melodic jazz licks jazz guitar. Half whole diminished scales pdf the halfwhole diminished scale is an 8 note symmetrical scale.
This lesson will shortly describe the augmented scale, how it is constructed and some of the arpeggios it contains. Practice now the diminished scale in this base download the file. Diminished scales are used in the construction of flat nine also known as sharp nine chords, but may also be used in conjunction with most dominant 7th chords. Diminished scale training the tonality of this baking track is in d minor. Jul 04, 2008 a diminished scale is a 8 tone scale that has intervals that alternate between wholesteps and halfsteps. Also included are arpeggios found within the scale. Because an octave is 12 semitones, stacking further minor 3rd above the top note of a diminished chord just repeats the same existing notes d f a. The diminished scale, also known as the whole half scale, is an eight note scale with a numeric formula of 12. In order to cycle through as many areas of scale practice as possible and not get bored it is important to have a plan.
Aguado was concerned with the teaching of a permanent method, an effort that was not a total waste. It is a symmetrical scale in that it follows a distinct pattern of steps, those being whole step, half step in a repeating pattern, not to be confused with the dominant diminished scale which follows a half step, whole step pattern. Diminished scales halfwhole and wholehalf guitar lesson with. The major scale is used as the basic starting point for many scales and modes. I suggest to use it just on the dominant 7th and diminished 7th chord in a jazz context. Both will be played one the 4th string horizontally.
Then pick one of the 10 diminished patterns and take it into the practice room for a week. The exercises of this last file are in diminished scale of a. Here are some free pdfs used to supplement my free video lessons. Free guitar scales pdf 84 scale and arpeggios chart. Free printable guitar scales, ready to download and use. Diminished scale it is made only by a sequence of half step semitone and whole step tone. I remember the end of my freshman year at indiana university, hanging out with some of my friends and watching videos on youtube about the diminished scale. This entry was posted in blog, lesson and tagged dim chord, diminished.
These can be used as a tension device in improvisation and are a totally different sound than the more common major and minor scales. Diminished scale chart click here for a free printable pdf file of this. You might already know about the diminished scale, but a lot of jazz musicians. This jazz guitar lesson with guitar shapes, scale charts and jazz line will help. Bookmarks simplify navigation and finding pages in adobe. The diminished scale is different from the dominant diminished scale, which alternates half and whole steps and is used to solo over dominant 7b9 chords.
Wholetone scale on one page wholetone scale circle diagram. Categories guitar lessons 2 comments post navigation. The diminished scale is an eightnote entity, as shown in figure 2. More scale exercises for guitar in the first guitar scale exercises lesson, we looked at runs linear, repeating ascendingdescending note patterns that sound great as soloing flourishes and that you can apply to any scale you might learn. There are only three diminished scales, and you repeat the same notes every minor third. This pdf lesson includes a number of diminished scale patterns along with a discussion of the theory needed to understand the application of diminished scale material. That means using quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes and gradually increasing the bpm on your metronome i recommend increments of 5 bpm. This guitar method is a printable pdf ebook contains 50 exercises with. 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.
Scales and some intros to songs i practice regularly. Treble clef 15 exercises for diminished scale technique. So, if you are new to jazz guitar, you can start on page 1 and work forward from there. For instance a diminished scale interval map would be w h w h w h w h. The enharmonic spellings are sometimes chosen for ease of reading rather than technical accuracy for example, gbdim7 is spelled gb, a, c, eb, instead of the technically correct but harder to read gb, bbb, dbb, fbb. Jun 17, 2019 learn how to play diminished arpeggios on guitar, then play example diminished licks. Free printable guitar scales 14 most commonly used scales. Each chapter builds on the previous material in the book. The second example to the right identifies the dominant chords most associated with that particular scale. The right way to use the diminished scale learn jazz. In this bass bit i will walk you through another sequence of seconds in this case major and minor seconds alternate.