DiminishedScaleBasicsMattOlson,FurmanUniversity

Conn-SelmerandD’AddarioEndorsingArtist

Theoctatonicscalerosetoprominenceinthemusicofearly20thCenturycomposerslikeStravinskyandBartok.OlivierMessiaenalsoincludeditinhis“modesoflimitedtransposition.Jazzmusiciansusetheterm“diminishedscale”insteadof“octatonicscale,”presumablybecauseitmatchesupwellwithdiminishedharmony.Diminishedharmonycantakeonafewdifferentforms,includingafullydiminished7thchordaswellasadominant7thchordwithaflatted9thandsometimesadditionallyaraised11th.

Noticethatthe3-5-7-9oftheC7(b9)chordisitselfadiminished7thchord.Thisdiminishedsubsetiswhythesetypesofaltereddominantchordscanbethoughtofasdiminishedharmony.Thediminishedscaleitselfisformedfromanalternatingseriesofhalfstepsandwholesteps.Itisthoughtofasasymmetricalscalebecauseeachscaleincludesfour“keys”beforeitrepeatsitself.Intheexamplebelow,notethatthescalecouldstartonC,Eb,F#,orA,andhavetheexactsamesetofnotes.1

Oneofthereallycoolfeaturesofthediminishedscaleisthatitincludeseveryinterval(minorandmajor2nd,minorandmajor3rd,perfect4th,andtritone)andthemajor,minor,anddiminishedtriads.Youmighthavetohuntforallofthesethings,buttheyareinthere.Ineverycase,youwillfindeachintervalandtriadfourtimes.Intheexampleabove,forinstance,youcanfindtheC,Eb,F#,andAmajortriads.Havingalloftheseshapesinthescaleinfourkeysmakesforaseeminglylimitlessarrayofpossiblelinesthatyoucancreate.

1Ihavechosentopresentthediminishedscalebeginningwithahalfstepinterval,butyoucouldbeginwithawholestep.

OneproblemIhaveisdeterminingwhattocallthe“Cdiminishedscale,”likewedowiththemajorandminorscales(e.g.,“Cmajorscale”).Eachpitchclassappearsintwoofthethreescalesandthescalesaresymmetrical,sowhichonewouldbethe“Cdiminishedscale,”forexample,isrelativelyambiguoustome.Ipersonallydon’trefertothescaleswithaparticularrootinmind;rather,Ifocusonthetotalityoftheshapeandwhere/howIwanttouseit.ExercisesforlearningthediminishedscaleHerearethreerelativelyeasywaystopracticethediminishedscale,withthegoalofsimplygainingfluencyofthescales(Ionlyincludeoneofthethreescales…transposeeachoftheexercisesonyourownandplaymultipleoctavesifyouareable):1.Playingthescaleupanddown–tohearthevoiceleadingofthediminishedcorrectly,placethehalfstepasthepickupwhenyouplaythescale.You’llhavetostopatthetopandstartagain,likethis:

2.Thispermutationisawaytogroupthediminishedscale.SonnyStittplaysthissortofthinginhissoloon“EternalTriangle”onDizzyGillespie’sSonnySideUprecording.

3.Playingthescaleinthirds(skippingnotes)

HarmonicapplicationsofthediminishedscaleOncewegainmasteryofthescales,weturnourattentiontoimplementingtheminourplayingandcomposing.Youcan,ofcourse,playthediminishedscaleoveranactualdiminished7thchord:

Noticethat,inordertobeginonC,weuseadifferentdiminishedscale.Inthiscase,weareusingthehalfsteprelationshipasasortoflowerneighbor/leadingtoneintoeachofthechordtonesofthediminishedchord.Morecommonly,weuseitoveradominant7thchord.Intheexamplebelow,weseeaC13(b9)chordwithadiminishedscalewrittenaboveit.

Analyzingthenotesofthescaleandhowtheyfunctionoverthegivenchord,wefindthefollowingrelationships:Note FunctionC 1(root)Db b9Eb #9E 3rdF# #11(orb5)G 5thA 13thBb 7th

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w wb wb wn w# w w wb

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Theresultisthatwehavealloftheimportantchordtones(includingthealteration(s))andsomeadditionalcolortones.PerhapsthemostimportantaspectofusingthediminishedscaleisthebeautifuldescendingvoiceleadingthatthescaleofferswhenresolvingfromV-I.FromC7toFmajor,theBbtoAresolutionisbuiltin,butitextendsupwardinthescale,too,toinvolvethe#9/b9combination.Herearethoseresolutions:

SomefundiminishedshapesyoumightlikeInadditiontothebasicscaleshapesabove,herearesomeshapesthatyoumightlike:ThefirstissomethingCharlieParkerplayed:

NextisalinethatJohnColtranemadefamousduringhis“sheetsofsound”era.

Aninterestingpossibilityistocombinetwomajortriadsatritoneapart,likeinthisline:

Thechromaticnatureofthediminishedscalelendsitselftocreatingamyriadofshapesexploitingthehalfstep.Hereisatriplet-basedline.

Withsomecreativeinspiration,youcancreatelotsofcoolshapesfromthediminishedscale.Askyourself“whatwouldXsoundlike”or“whatwouldhappenifItriedX”tofindsomeshapes.Youwon’tlikethemall,butyou’reguaranteedtofindsomeshapesyoudig…thepossibilitiesarenearlyendless!FurtherresourcesforstudyingthepentatonicscaleIhighlyrecommendUnderstandingtheDiminishedScale:AGuidefortheModernPlayerbyWaltWeiskopf.Heincludesalotofreallyusefulinformation,practicepatterns,andetudesinhisbook.Watchandlistentoexamplesofthediminishedscaleinmany“modern”jazzplayersandtranscribewhatyouhear.PlayersfromCharlieParkertoMichaelBreckerusedthediminishedscaleinavarietyofinterestingways.