{"id":1107,"date":"2011-01-28T10:37:57","date_gmt":"2011-01-28T17:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2024-12-25T16:48:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-26T00:48:43","slug":"diminished-scale-in-2-second","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/diminished-scale-in-2-second\/","title":{"rendered":"Master the Diminished Scale In 2 Seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other day<\/a>, I answered a question regarding popular gospel scales one can play — and the diminished scale was on my list.<\/p>\n

But it haunted me because this is a pretty big scale… 8 notes to be exact. It’s what we call an octatonic scale. Octa = 8.<\/p>\n

(Incidentally, there’s such a thing as pentatonic scales<\/a>, which have 5 notes. Hexatonic scales have 6 (like blues scales<\/a>). Heptatonic scales have 7 (like major scales<\/a>). And here we are at a diminished scale, which has 8).<\/p>\n

I knew many wouldn’t even try to learn the diminished scale in all 12 keys because it simply has too many notes. (Well, I take that back… 80% wouldn’t try but there are those “dedicated few” — the 20% — who make an effort tackle stuff like this).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How to play any diminished scale in seconds<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

So here’s what you do to play any diminished scale. The ONLY prerequisite is that you know your diminished 7 chords, which are pretty easy because there’s only really 3 of them.<\/p>\n

C Diminished 7 (C + Eb + Gb + A) — The “A” should really be named “Bbb” but let’s keep it simple.
\n<\/p>\n

C# Diminished 7 (C# + E + G + Bb) — Yes, you can mix sharps and flats. See these two lessons here<\/a> and here<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n

D Diminished 7 (D + F + Ab + B) — The “B” should really be named “Cb” but again, let’s keep it simple here.
\n<\/p>\n

If you learn these 3, you can play all the other diminished chords<\/a>