Five fingerings of the diminished scale , referred to the five pentatonic boxes...?

[lagedor]

Hallo everyone , lately (it's four or five years I try to play the blues) I want to stop to learn new licks (I know maybe too many) , focusing on I-IV-V progression. So I go behind a backing track with these charts I made , consisting , for each pentatonic box and for the I - IV - V grade , of arps and mixolidyan patterns ( the dominant ones for now are referred just to the I grade...) . I don't mind if my 'solos' look mechanical , at this moment I need to visualize and not to miss notes , jumping confortably from a pattern to another with more options for soloing ; I guess that's good also for knowing fretboard and note values , hoping that more signifiant melodic lines shall come later , with practice and experience. So , anyone may suggest me the fingerings of the diminished scale referred to the five pentatonic boxes ? thanks a lot

 

P:S: unfortunately I can't post attachementents for 'file corrupted' .

[Poparad]

Because the diminished scale is symmetrical (built on a repeating pattern of two notes), there is really only one position of the scale (well, technically two, but the second one is far less comfortable to play).

 

The whole-half diminished scale is really easy to visualize on the guitar. If we play an A w-h diminished scale, start on your low E string on the 5th fret and play A B C on frets 5, 7, and 8. Then on the 5th string play D Eb F on frets 5, 6, and 8. That two string pattern is the whole thing for guitar. Take that two string pattern, and on the 4th and 3rd strings, move over to the 4th fret and play the same shape. Then stay in the 4th position and play it again for the 2nd and 1st strings. That's it.

 

Every pattern on the guitar is identical to that, just 3 frets higher or lower. If you move up to C on the 8th fret and start over, it's the same scale. Move up to Eb on the 11th fret, again, the same scale. F# on the 2nd or 14th frets, and then back to A on the 5th or 17th frets.

[lagedor]

... so , starting from the root in any area of the neck and manteining the same intervals we have a w-h diminished scale , if I am not wrong ; of course it's not so easy incorporate it in the blues playing... but I really love that sound ! . Any suggestion about books or other material conceirning the dim scale and the blues ? thanks a lot

[Poparad]

Yes. However, because of the symmetry, you can start the pattern not just on the root, but also every 3 frets, too. So in A, you can start the pattern on A, C, Eb, or F# and have the same diminished scale. That's what it means to be symmetrical.

 

There are two uses for the diminished scale: The w-h version for dim7 chords and the h-w version for altered dominant chords. If you look up stuff online about the use in jazz playing, you'll find lots of stuff about the diminished scale, as it's a widely used favorite.

 

For more of a blues slant, listen to Oz Noy. He makes great use of jazz sounds in a blues context, and diminished is a sound he uses a lot.

[1001gear]

Slonimsky FWITW is now free @

 

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~gross/Slonimsky/Thesaurus.of.Scales.And.Melodic.Patterns.Nicolas.Slonimsky.pdf

 

I brought this up because a pianist friend now mostly retired but well versed in Pop - rock and salsa thru Aebersold candy once told me get the Slonomsky book.

 

He went on to explain the **** has to get into your ears and fingers before you can improvise "at will." Most players would presume "hot" and I suppose that's included.

 

Back to diminished scales, my take is the fingerings are given. Just go find 'em.

 

2 nps, 3 nps, 4 or more nps - with or without slides, slurs, dive bombs - whatever.

 

I use a slowdowner to get the changes to stay put. Then it's like rock climbing