Diminished Scale & Double Diminished Chord - The Jazz Piano Site

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Diminished Scale & Double

Diminished Chord - The Jazz Piano
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5-6 minutes
The diminished chord is built out of minor 3rds (3 semitones).

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♭ → B → D → F → A♭ → B → D →
etc.). Because of this the diminished chord repeats at intervals
of minor thirds. This means there are only 3 unique diminished
chords:
• Cdim7 = E♭dim7 = G♭dim7 = Adim7
• D♭dim7 = Edim7 = Gdim7 = B♭dim7
• Ddim7 = Fdim7 = A♭dim7 = Bdim7
The Diminished Scale
The Diminished Scale is:
• An Octatonic Scale (i.e. it has 8 notes)
• A Symmetrical Scale (i.e. 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
• D♭ = E = G = B♭ diminished scale
• D = F = A♭ = B diminished scale
There are, however, two possible modes of each diminished

scale. And they get their names from the interval pattern that
create them. These are:
• The Half-Whole (H/W) Diminished Scale

• Interval Pattern: semitone – tone – semitone – tone – …etc.
• Used over a V7 chord
• The Whole-Half (W/H) Diminished Scale

• Interval Pattern: tone – semitone – tone – semitone – …etc.
• Used over a Diminished chord
Scale Chord Notes & Degrees
C C13b9#9#11 C D♭ D# E F# G A B♭
H/W OR
Dim C7b9 1 ♭9 #9 3 #11 5 13 ♭7
D♭ D♭dim7 D♭ D# E F# G A B♭ C
W/H
1 +1 ♭3 + 1 ♭5 +1 ♭♭7 + 1
Dim
tone tone tone tone
Notice that:
• The C H/W = D♭W/H Diminished Scales (i.e. they are modes);
• The chord from the C H/W Diminished Scale is a C7♭9 (C E G

B♭ D♭);
• The chord from the D♭W/H Diminished Scale is a D♭dim7 (D♭ E

G B♭)
• D♭dim7 = Rootless C7♭9.
The H/W Diminished Scale and/or associated chord can be

substituted in place of a V7 chord. While, the Whole-Half
Diminished Scale is used over a diminished chord. For example:
Chord D♭o7 Gm7 C7 (or C7♭9) FMaj7

Progression
Scales D♭ W/H G C H/W F

Diminished Dorian Diminished Ionian
Now, remember that the diminished chord and scale repeat at

intervals of minor 3rds. This means that:
• C H/W = E♭ H/W = G♭ H/W = A H/W = D♭ W/H = E W/H = G

W/H = B♭ W/H
Diminished Lick
Below is a classic diminished lick in B♭ H/W Diminished Scale.

Try it out and listen to how it sounds.
Associated Chords
Just like with regular diatonic scales, we can assign each note in
the diminished scale an associated chord. This gives us:
Scale Scale Chords
C H/W C7♭9 D♭o7 D#7♭9 Eo7 F#7♭9 Go7 A7♭9 B♭o7

Diminished
No Avoid Notes and Interchangeability of Chords
Just like the Melodic Minor and Wholetone scale, the

Diminished Scale has no avoid notes. This means that all of the
above chords are completely interchangeable. Playing a D♭dim7
chord is effectively like playing all eight of the above chords at
once.
Chord D♭ E G B♭
D♭o7 = Eo7 = Go7 = B♭o7 Diminished Chord
C7♭9 ♭9 3 5 ♭7
D#7♭9 ♭7 ♭9 3 5
F#7♭9 5 ♭7 ♭9 3
A7♭9 3 5 ♭7 ♭9
Altered Diminished Chord
Interestingly, if you move any note in a diminished chord up a

whole-step, you still remain within the Diminished Scale – so
you still have a diminished chord. I will call this the Altered
Diminished Chord. You can substitute this new note in
whenever you have a diminished chord. This greatly increases
the tension of the chord which can make it sound really
interesting and jazzy.
D♭o7 D♭ E G B♭
Change note to D# F# A C
Chord Diminished Altered Diminished
A♭o7 A♭ B D F A♭ B D G
A♭ B E F
Chord Diminished Altered Diminished
A♭ C# D F
B♭ B D F
Taking this to the extreme, you can also move ALL the notes up
a whole-step and play a D#dim7 chord instead of a D♭dim7
chord. This will sound incredibly dissonant, but it’s theoretically
correct.
Double Diminished Chord
You may have also noticed that the Diminished Scale is really
just two Diminished Chords a semitone apart, superimposed
over each other. Using this idea allows you to create something
called a Double Diminished Chord.
If you play a D♭dim7 chord in your left hand and a Cdim7 chord
in your right hand, you have yourself a Double Diminished
Chord. This is a very jazzy and dissonant sound which can
actually be a number of different chords at once. These are
listed below.
Voicing Chord Notes Combined Chord
Left Hand D♭o7 D♭ E G B♭ C13♭9#9#11

D#13♭9#9#11
Right Hand Co7 C E♭ G♭ A F#13♭9#9#11
A13♭9#9#11
Have a Listen to
• Moment’s Notice ~ John Coltrane (Coltrane’s solo at about 2:07)
• Caravan ~ Duke Ellington

• Freedom Jazz Dance ~ Covered by Miles Davis’ Second Great
Quintet (Hancock’s solo at 4:50)
• Dolphin Dance ~ Herbie Hancock
>> NEXT LESSON >>

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Diminished Scale & Double

The diminished chord is built out of minor 3rds (3 semitones).

• Cdim7 = E♭dim7 = G♭dim7 = Adim7

• D♭dim7 = Edim7 = Gdim7 = B♭dim7

• Ddim7 = Fdim7 = A♭dim7 = Bdim7

The Diminished Scale

The Diminished Scale is:

• An Octatonic Scale (i.e. it has 8 notes)

• A Symmetrical Scale (i.e. the intervals repeat in a pattern)

Because it is a symmetrical scale (and much like the diminished

There are, however, two possible modes of each diminished

• The Half-Whole (H/W) Diminished Scale

• Used over a V7 chord

• The Whole-Half (W/H) Diminished Scale

• Used over a Diminished chord

Scale Chord Notes & Degrees

• The C H/W = D♭W/H Diminished Scales (i.e. they are modes);

• The chord from the C H/W Diminished Scale is a C7♭9 (C E G

• The chord from the D♭W/H Diminished Scale is a D♭dim7 (D♭ E

• D♭dim7 = Rootless C7♭9.

The H/W Diminished Scale and/or associated chord can be

Chord D♭o7 Gm7 C7 (or C7♭9) FMaj7

Scales D♭ W/H G C H/W F

Now, remember that the diminished chord and scale repeat at

• C H/W = E♭ H/W = G♭ H/W = A H/W = D♭ W/H = E W/H = G

Below is a classic diminished lick in B♭ H/W Diminished Scale.

Scale Scale Chords

C H/W C7♭9 D♭o7 D#7♭9 Eo7 F#7♭9 Go7 A7♭9 B♭o7

No Avoid Notes and Interchangeability of Chords

Just like the Melodic Minor and Wholetone scale, the

D♭o7 = Eo7 = Go7 = B♭o7 Diminished Chord

Altered Diminished Chord

Interestingly, if you move any note in a diminished chord up a

Chord Diminished Altered Diminished

Double Diminished Chord

Voicing Chord Notes Combined Chord

Left Hand D♭o7 D♭ E G B♭ C13♭9#9#11

• Moment’s Notice ~ John Coltrane (Coltrane’s solo at about 2:07)

• Caravan ~ Duke Ellington

• Dolphin Dance ~ Herbie Hancock

>> NEXT LESSON >>

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