This Week in the 'Shed - Diminished Licks

At long last, I'm returning to the blog! It's been a very busy few weeks, but the semester is winding down, and I finally have time again to opine on improv. This week, I'm starting a new "segment" of sorts: "This Week in the 'Shed," which will highlight a snippet of the material I've been working on in the practice room. My first piece for this new segment is a perennial favorite of mine, and one I lifted from John Scofield: the diminished scale sequence.
First things first: we need some background on the diminished scale! The diminished scale in C is:

The interval formula for this scale is H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W, which yields the following set of scale degrees from a given root note:

• Root
• Flat 9
• Sharp 9
• Major 3rd
• Sharp 11
• Perfect 5th
• Natural 13
• Flat 7

As you've already noticed, the diminished scale is octatonic. The addition of an eighth note in the scale opens up a vast array of chordal possibilities, which change depending on which note you begin with--primary or secondary. Primary scale tones in the H-W diminished are those that are followed by a half-step: in the C diminished scale, those are C, Eb, Gb, and A. Secondary tones are followed by a whole step: Db, E, G, and Bb, in the C diminished scale. Here's a detailed breakdown of the chords found inside the C diminished scale:


Primary Triads (C, Eb, Gb, or A)
Major
Minor
Diminished


Primary Seventh Chords
Dominant
Half-diminished 
Fully diminished


Secondary Triads (Db, E, G, Bb)

Diminished


Secondary Seventh Chords
Fully diminished

Obviously, the primary scale tones offer significantly more chordal options than secondary. This is useful to know when harmonizing the scale in triads, which can result in some great-sounding textures, especially over long dominant chords. It also provides a quick and [relatively] simple way to navigate minor-thirds-based changes, i.e., Henderson's "Isotope" turnaround. Guitarists have a habit of playing 7b9 chords over dominants, the upper structures of which can be moved in minor thirds or tritones to achieve a more complex accompaniment--soloists can arpeggiate those chords to the same ends.


That's a brief introduction to the diminished scale, from which my latest favorite lick is derived:

This is another harmonization of the diminished scale, this time using sequenced whole step intervals. Here, the scale begins on the #9 scale degree of C dim.


In context, the scale has such a powerfully dissonant sound that virtually all of the resolving chord's scale tones become accessible--assuming a C7alt resolving to Fmaj7, this would include the extensions of G, B (natural), and D, or 9, #11, and 13, as potential resolutions.


The real fun is in sequencing the sequence itself. Take, for example, the last four bars of the bridge of "Dizzy Atmosphere":

The lick begins on the same #9 in C7, then drops a half-step for every bar in the progression, landing squarely on a very low Ab in the return to the [A] section--hugely satisfying at this tune's regularly breakneck tempo!


As mentioned before, I owe John Scofield for the introduction to this lick: he calls it a classic of jazz, and who can deny it--angular yet lithe, tense yet familiar, it's a fantastic and still fresh bop lick to work into your improvisations.


Thanks for reading, and check back next week to see what's happening in the woodshed!

Check out Arthur's website at http://arthurcarvajal.webs.com!