How To Play The Harmonized Half Whole Diminished Scale

This weeks reader generated article comes from a question posted on the Matt Warnock Guitar Facebook Page. A reader asked about how to harmonize the different notes in the Half-Whole Diminished cale! and since " get this question a lot from other readers and students! " decided it was a great topic for this weeks reader question article.

When learning how to play jazz guitar! de#eloping a strong understanding of the Half-Whole Diminished cale from both a harmonic and melodic standpoint is an essential tool that can greatl$ e%pand $our #ocabular$ in both a comping and soloing situation. "n the following article $ou will learn how to build a Half-Whole Diminished cale! what chords are used to harmonize this scale! and how to appl$ this knowledge to comping! chord scales and impro#ising.

Half-Whole Diminished Scale

&efore we di#e into the harmonic content of the Half-Whole Diminished cale! lets look at how to build this scale from an inter#allic standpoint. The scale gets its name because it is built b$ alternating half-steps and whole-steps as $ou ascend from the root up to the ne%t octa#e. Here is how the scale looks starting on the note '(

' Db )b ) *b * A &b '

o $ou can see that the inter#als between each note alternate between half-steps and whole steps! creating an eight-note scale as opposed to the se#en-note scales $ou ma$ be used to. Here are the inter#als for each note in a Half-Whole Diminished cale that $ou can use as a reference when working with this sound in the practice room.

+ b, b- - b./0112 . 3 b4 +

And here is how the ' Half-Whole Diminished cale looks on the staff! in both notation and tab.

As well! if $ou are new to this scale and want to check out further one and two-octa#e fingerings for it on the guitar! $ou can read m$ article 5How to Play Half-Whole Diminishe !cales for Guitar.6

Harmonized Half Whole Diminished Scale Dim7 Chords

The first le#el of harmon$ we will check out with the Half-Whole Diminished cale are the four ifferent im" chor s that are foun within its construction# These four different chords contain the same four notes! in the ke$ of ' it would be Db-)-*-&b! with each new occurrence of the dim4 chord being an in#ersion of the pre#ious #oicing in the scale. 7otice that these dim4 chords fall on the b8! - r ! .th and b4th of the tonic note! '! which can help $ou memorize and recall these chords in a performance situation. This is a great wa$ to impro#ise and comp o#er an$ '4 chord! transforming it into a '4b8. "f $ou want to get a '4b8 sound! $ou can pla$ the arpeggio or #oicing for Dbdim4! )dim4! *dim4 or &bdim4 in order to bring out that qualit$. Here is how these chords are spelled in the ke$ of '(

Db ) * &b ) * &b Db * &b Db ) &b Db ) &b

o $ou can see that there the dim4 chord pops up four times within this scale! but each time it is built using the same four notes! as $ou would with an$ in#ersion of an$ chord such as ma94! 4 or m4. Here is how these #oicings look in the ke$ of ' using closed-position chords.

Harmonized Half Whole Diminished Scale 7th Chords

The ne%t le#el of harmon$ that $ou can check out with the Half-Whole Diminished cale are the four dominant 4 th chords that occur abo#e the other notes of the scale! '4-)b4-*b4-A4. This means that $ou can use the ' Half-Whole Diminished cale to impro#ise and comp o#er those four different dominant 4 chords. 7otice that the 4th chords fall on the root! b-rd! b.th and 3th of the tonic ke$! which can help $ou recall and use these chords quickl$ in a performance situation.

As $ou begin to e%periment with this sound in a comping situation! let $our ears guide $ou as to where and when $ou want to use these 4th chords in $our pla$ing. Theoreticall$ $ou can use )b4! *b4 and A4 to comp o#er '4 to gi#e it a Half-Whole fla#or! but this might not alwa$s sound good. o tr$ it out in the practice room before $ou take it out on the bandstand to a#oid an$ awkward looks from the rest of the group if these chords dont sound e%actl$ as $ou had planned. Here is how each of those chords is spelled. 7otice that the$ are not in#ersions of each other as was the case with the dim4 chords! but instead are stand-alone chords as far as their construction is concerned.

' ) * &b )b * &b Db *b A Db ) A '0/Db2 ) *

And here is how these four chords look like on the page! in both notation and tab in the ke$ of ' using closed-position #oicings.

Harmonized Half Whole Diminished Scale Chord Scale

"n the following e%ample " ha#e written out a Half-Whole Diminished 'hord cale in the ke$ of '! using Drop , 'hords on the middle four strings. 7otice that $ou ha#e four dim4 and four 4 chords when $ou harmonize the entire scale. This means that $ou can now use the ' Half-Whole Diminished cale to impro#ise and comp o#er the following chords(

'4/b82 )b4/b82 *b4/b82 A4/b82

Dbdim4 )dim4 *dim4 &bdim4

After $ou ha#e checked out this e%ample! and taken it to other ke$s on this string set! tr$ building chord scales with the HalfWhole Diminished scale with Drop , chords on other string sets! as well as with an$ other $azz Guitar %hor that $ou know or are working on in the practice room.

Ha#ing a strong understanding of how to build and use the Half-Whole Diminished cale can not onl$ help $ou shore up $our theor$ knowledge! but it can also help $ou appl$ this scale and its chords in situations that $ou ma$ not ha#e thought of before! greatl$ e%panding $our harmonic and melodic #ocabular$.

Do $ou ha#e a fa#orite wa$ to think of or use the harmonized Half-Whole Diminished cale: "f so! please share it in the comment section below.