icuffi

*li{lnliTfl
Guitqr Secretsr metricqlScqlesReveqled
Gonlenls:
Poge * CD trock
l: INTRODUCTION., """'4 """""'1
SECTION

Modes of fhe Diminishedond Whole'ToneScoles """"5 """"""3

Unit t:
ExomPles I A-l C
Unit 2: Stqtic ond FunctioningDominont Tfhs' """""""6
ExomPles2A-28

SECTIONll: THEDIMINISHED SCATE

Unit 3: Fingeringsof fhe DiminishedScqle' """""'7
Exomplei3A-3c """""""'''""4
Unit4: How lo leorn qnd Prqcticethe DiminishedScqle...,''"""'""""I0
C7 ProcticeTrock """"""""'5
Unit5: DiminishedScqle Sequences.,,, """""'I I
E x o m p l e4s- . l 3 . , ' . , ,. . , ,,,:,.*.,,.'i""""""' """"""""6-15
U n i t6 : d p e g g i o s , . , ' . , ' , , , , ' , . - . , , , , , , " " " " ; " " ' r"- "r "" "r " " " " ' 1 9
D i m i n i s h eA
E x o m p l els4 A - l 4 E . , ' . """)""""" ""' ro
Unif 7: Usingthe DiminishedScole """"""2.|
ExomPles15-22 ""'17-24
Unit 8: Six-NofeDiminishedShqpes """""'27
ExomPles23-24 """"'25-26
Unil 9: Moior Triods in the DiminishedScqle """29
ExomPles25-g4 """"27-36
unif l0: using the Diminishedscqle over stqtic chords '.,,"'.,...34
ExorriPles 35-40 "37-42

SECTIONlll: THEWHOTE-TONE SCATE

U n i tI l : Fingerings of the Whole-Tone Scole """""'37
e x J m p t e s4 1 F . - 4 1 E , , , , . , . , . . , , """"'43-45

Unif l2: Whole-ToneScqleSequences.,.,,., """"""""41

Exomples42-47 """""'46-5.|
Unit l3: Whole-ToneArPeggios', """'M
Exomples 48A-48E """"""'52

Unii l4: Usingfhe Whole-ToneScqle.,., """""""46

Exoriples 49-56 """"""53-59
-
Unit l5: Modern Usesof the Whole-Ione Stolic Chords""""""" """"'52
Exomples57-60 """""'60-63
'54
Unit | 6: The Fingerboqrd- SymmetricqlScoles Geometric Ployground ""'64-69
Exomples 6l-66
""'59
U n i l l 7 : Diminishedond Whole-ToneLines ""'70-79
Exomples67-76
 Foreword
welcome Io SymmetricotscolesReveoled,Leorninghow to ploy ond usescoleshos olwoys
been o lorge
porf of every guitorployer'sproctice schedule,Ployershove spentcounfless
hours procticingscolesup
ond down oll over the guitor,sometimeswith greot successond sometimeswith frustrotion
os the end
result.

Thoseof you who know me from my booksond videosor yeorsof the Guitor Institute
of Technology(GlT)
know l've been involvedin guiior educqtionfor o long time, l've seenhundredsof students
strugglewith
the some problemsthot I foced when gling throughthe processof leorninghow to ploy
ond usescoles,
After mony yeorsof experience,both pldyingond teoching,l've become o big believer
in cutting through
the nonsenseond getting to the point of it oll,which isployingmusic,

Thepresentotionond ideosin thisbook ore definitelyfrom o ployer'sperspective.We're

not going to get
too in-depthinto the historyond clossicoltheoryof the diminishedond whole-tonescoles,
We,llfocus more
on theirusesin contempororystyleslikeblues,rock,fusion,ond Don't get me wrong;there willbe no
)ozz.
shortcutshere when it comesto modern musictheory.As for os l'm concerned,oll guitorployers
must
hove o good workingknowledgeof hormonyond theoryond the obilityto reod music,
even if it,sonly sim-
ple chord chorts,

ThreeSfepsto Success
Leorningto improvisecon be thought of os o three-rtdpJro""rr. Thefirststep istypicollythe teorning
of
scoles,Usingeitherthe key center opprooch or the modol opprodch,studentsshouldleornot leost
o few
usefulfingeringsof the mojorscole ond be oble to ploy them in dtt t<eys,
Also,in thisfirststep,ployersneed
to leorn obout hormonyond theoryto help understondwhich scolefitsover which chord. Armed
with
sometheory knowledge,studentscon immediotelybegin ployingover even dif1cultchord chonges
by
simplyswitchingto the correctscoleor key center for the given chord,

Mostployersofter o period of time willbegin to find thisfirststep limiting.Theymoy soy thot they con,t
seemto moke theirsolossoundlikethe chords,thot they soundtoo scolor.Movingon to step two, we
introduceorpeggiosos o tool to creote chord sounds,Mixingorpeggioswith our scolesstortsmoking
our
solosmore hormonicolly intelligent,

Stepthree isthe finolfrontierof improvising,

os we now stortreollyleorningmugc. Sofor we,ve been using
scolesond orpeggiosbut moy not been oble to moke our solossoundmelodic,Now it'stime to leorn
melodies.Mostof us need to leorno repertoireof melodic linesto usewhen we improvise. Almostevery
one of our fovorite ployershos,of one time or onother,leqrned linesby copying recordingsor tronscriptions.
l've met mony studentswho tell me they don't wont to soundlikeonyone elseond feel they shouldn,t
copy other ployers,Theysoonreolizethot the rood to originolitygoes throughthe lond of copying licks,
phrosing,ond conceptsusedby fovoriteployers,Eventuolly, theseinfluencesmerge togetherinto your
own originolstyle.

One lostthing:A common misconceptionobout improvising isthe phrose"ployingwhot you heor.,,Mony

ployerssoy they do this,leodingstudentsto thinkthot they simplymoke up musicon the spot,Whot
they
ore reollysoyingisthot they ore ployingwhot they know,

lmprovising
isthe spontoneousperformonceof ideosthot come to you in the midstof soloing,you moy
not know oheod of time whot you ore going to ploy, but ormed with scoles,orpeggios,melodic ideos,
ond theoreticolconcepts,you con ploy o creotiveond spontoneousimprovisedsolo,
Introduction
Thisbook deolswith the two mostusedsymmetricolscoles-the diminishedond whole-tone,
Symmetricol
scolesore bestdefined os hovingrepetitiveor equol-notespocingthot repeotsthroughout
the octove, For
exomple,the whole-tonescqleisexoctlywhot the nqme indicotes;it'so scole builten1rely
of whole tones,
Thesymmetryof o diminishedscole iso pottern of olternotingwhole stepsond holf
steps,four timesper
octove.

one greot thing obout symmetricolscolesisthqt they ore very guitor-friendly

ond eosyto memorize.The
fingerboordiso visuol,grophic instrumentsimilorto o slide-rule,
In mostcoses,you con get by with justone
fingeringfor eoch of thesescqlesond then repeot the some fingeringeverytwo frets(whole-tone)
or three
frets(diminished)up or down the fingerboord,Guitorployerscon eositydiscoverhundreds
of unique
melodicond hormonicideosthot ore not os obviouson other instruments likekeyboords,reeds,or bross,
Bothof thesescolesore very usefulond creotivetoolsused by improvisers,
Theirsimplicitycon be decep-
tive; it'solmostsurprising
how thesesimplescqlescon providesucho complexsound,In trqditionol jou,
they provideo controstingflovorogoinstfunctionoldominontchords.Modernployers
exploitthesescoles
to odd on outsidesoundto contempororyjou, rock,ond even blues.

ln SymmetricolSco/esReveqledyou'll leornthe most usefulscole potternsond explore

sequencesond
orpeggioswithinthe scoles'Nextwe'll leornthe secretsof how to best usethe scoles,followed
by severol
of my fovoritemelodiclines, I
. ;
We'llbegin eoch of the two sectionsby firstleorningsome good,fingerings for eoch scole,lf you olreody
know o fingeringor two, stickwith them or feel free to modifyony oi the iingeringshere to suityour
tech-
niqueond style'Theultimotegool isto be oble to ploy the porticulorscoleonywhereon the guitor
t,^,,
in ony
KUV.

One more thing obout the fingerings: Youore limitedonly by the lowestond highestnoteson the guitor.
Thinkof scolesos hovingno beginningond no end. Don't be too concernedwith the bottom
or top notes
of eoch individuolpottern,You'llfind thot eoch hos q differentstortingond ending note becouseof the
noturolronge of the strings,

Scolesore simplyo row of notes,ond you shouldleornto controlthe scole by being oble to stortqnd
end
on ony note, Eventuolly,individuolscolefingeringswillbegin to blend togetherintJlorger potternsuntil
finollythe whole fingerboordisunderyour control!

How fo Get the Most Ouf of ThisBook

Thebestwoy to get the mostout of thisbook isto scon througheoch chopter first,Get o feet obout
where
ond whot the vorioustopicsore ond if they contoin informotionyou olreodyknow,you shouldreod every
poge corefully,but it'sokoy to stortwith ony sectionin the book thot interests
you,
 , 9

Unit l: Modes of the Diminishedqnd Whole-ToneScqles

Usingthe term mode when discussing symmetricolscolesmqy seemstronge,but modesoren't justfound
in mojorscqles.All scoles,includingmelodicond hormonicminorond even the pentotonic,hove modes
contoinedwithinthem, Of our two symmetricolscoles,the diminishedhostwo modeswhilethe whole-tone
hosjustone,

Thefirstmode of the diminishedscolebegins,when oscending,with q whole step from the firstnote or

root, lnsteodof givingit someweird Greeknome, we'lljustcoll the firstmode Ihe diminishedscole.

@l ExomptelA: C Diminished6cate(tst Modet

I step
sfep |I/2
/2 step I step I/2 step I step I/2 step I step I/2 step

Theothermode found in the diminished

scolebeginswith o holfstep,A good nome for thisone isthe domr-
nont diminishedscole,

Example I B: D Dominonl Diminished Sca.le(2nd Mode)

/ !

II/2step
/2 step Ilstep
step l/2step
I/2 step Ilsfep
sfep l/2sfep tstep l/2step tstep

Don't let thismode businesswith the diminishedscole confuseyou. Bothmodesore stilldiminishedscoles

ond ore ployed exoctlythe some,Onlythe stortingnotesore different,Youcon ploy both diminished
modeswith one fingeringpottern,juststortwith eitherthe whole-stepor holf-stepscqle,Youdon't wont to
confuseyour fingersinto thinkingthere ore two differentpotterns,

Thereosonwe ore even consideringboth modes isto moke the scole'sopplicotioneosier,In improvising,
you willnot only ploy the diminishedscoleover diminishedchords,but more often thon not you will olso
ploy it over dominont7th chords,Thinkingin termsof two modes mokeslocotingor superimposing the
scoleover specificchordseosier,

Example lC: C Whole-Tone Scale Mode

When it comes to the whole-tonescole,there isonly one possiblemode, No motterwhich note you stort
on in o whole-tonescole,the resultingscolewillolwoysbe the some,

I step I sfep I sfep I sfep I step

Unit2: Stqlic qnd FunctioningDominqnlTths
Thereore two primorytypes of dominont chordsthot ore mostlydefined by their context, or function,in the
progression-stoticond functioningdominont7ih chords.

dominontchordsfunctionos tronsitionchordsthot leod to other chordsby creotingtension,

Troditionolly,
Thenoturolresponseto thistension,colled dissononce,isthe desireto heor thot tensionresolvedby move-
ment to onother chord. l'll referto these dominqnt chords os the functioningdominonts,

Thistensionlimitsthe omount of time thesechordscon be ployed before movingto the next chord. Most
of the time they willresolveto o home chord up o 4th. Toget o feel of thesefunctioningdominonts,ploy
C7 to FmojTor E7to Am7 ond listento the dissononceof the dominont7th chord being resolved,

Sfotic(stotionory)dominontsore not os dissonontond ore not usedto leod to other chords,Stoticdominonts

ore usuollyvomps,or extendedgrooves,where the tune moy stoy on the chord for o long period of time,

All dominontchordscon be usedos functioningdominonts, Theycon be extended(C7, C9,Cl 1,Cl3, etc.)

ond oltered (C7CI5),
C9(b5),Cl3(b9), etc.), Stoticdominont chords con olwoysbe extended but not usuolly
oltered becouse the olterotionsoften odd too much dissononce,Theonly exceptionsore the il9ond the b5,

Symmetricolscolesore troditionollyconsideredolteredsoundsusedover functioningdominontchords,

providingtheirown uniquekindof tension, '
, ;

Example2A
Notice how the dominont diminishedscole contoinsevery oltered tone but the $5(or bl3),
Dominqnl 7th Chord: root 3rd sth b7t
Dominonl DiminishedScole*: root b9 il9 3rd b5 sth 6th bTth
. Diminishedscolestortingwith o holf step,

Example 28
The whole-tone scolecontoinsthe f5 thot wos missingfrom the dominont diminishedsco/e,The b5isthe
only olterotionthot's common to both scoles.
Dominonf 7fh Chord: root 3rd sth bTrh
Whole-ToneScqle: root 2nd 3rd b5 ils b7th
 Scqle
Proboblythe mostpopulorpotternfor o diminished
scole isshownbelow, lt,so verticolpottern usingthree
notesper stringthot coverso littlemore thon two octoves.
on ony stringthere'solwoyso whole step followed
by o holf step or vice versosponningthree frets.

At thispoint' don't be concernedwith the stortingnote,

we willget into the ..modes,,
of the scotetoter,For
now' justthinkof thisfirstpottern os c diminisneoitorring
on low c ond ending on high D.

@ Exampte3A: DiminishedScdte

C Diminished
Scole

I
Exampte38: Dominan] DiminishedScale
Eb,lt odds o
Thenext pottern isexocflythe some os the firstbut hostwo qdded notes:o low B ond o high
Thisiswhy
bit more ronge to the scole,but more importont,it includesthe root of o dominont7th chord'
diminished
thispottern,which stortswith o holf step rotherthon o whole step,issometimescolled the dominont
scole,
Toodd
Comporethe fingeringsfor the oscendingond descendingversionsof the dominontdiminished,
noteson one
the low B ond the high Ebyou hove to ploy four noteson the lst ond 6th strings,Ployingfour
when oscending,try using your 4th fingerto shiftfrom the
stringcon presentsome chollengesfor guitorists,
3rd to 4th note (1-2-4-4).When descending,useyour lst fingerto shiftbetween the lqsttwo notes(4-3-l-l)'
momentum'
Thelogic behindthisisthot shiftingwith the lostnote on the stringwillhove more strengthond
qnotherwqy, go for it' And yes,someguitorists
Thisruleisnot set in stone;if you feel you con ploy it fingering
do ploy the four noteswith four seporotefingers'

Do someexperimenting ond oniveof the bestfingeringfor you, Shiftingiso very imporfontguitortechnique

not onlvfor diminishedscolesbut olsofor other scolesond shopes'

v v v v
^ ^ -
v - v
^ ^ ^
xx v
A,
v
-
v
^
v^ v
^
v rt
v
A ^ ^
 9

Example3C: HorizontalDominanlDiminishedScalePattern
Whilewe ore on the subjectof four-note-per-string the followinghorizontoldiminishedpottern
fingerings,
usesthisfingeringon everystring,Horizontolfingeringsemphosizethe symmetryof thesescoles,Thispopulor
pottern isusefulfor long melodiclinesond chonging positions. I fingerit the some woy os the lostpottern:
1-2-4-4when oscendingond 4-3-l-l when descending,

lf the diminishedscole is new to you, you might wont to skipthispotternfor now ond concentroteon the
firsttwo fingerings,

G DominontDiminished
Scole

v v v !t
A - ^ -
v v - E
^ ^
,4,
v
^ x ^ x
x
v
o

^ v^ v
^
v
^
v

v v v
A ^ ^
Unit4: How lo Leqrnqnd Prqclicethe DiminishedScole
Thereore bosicollyiwo importontthingsto proctice:techniqueond ploying,Buildingup techniqueis
somethingyou con do onywhere,suchos whilewotching TVor sittingin the pork,whileyou ploy things
over ond over,Procticingployingisusingthe thingsyou've worked out in o reol musicolployingsituotion,
Ployingolong with music-minus-one topes,your friends,or even o drum mochinecon simuloteperform-
once. Thisisthe time to imogineyou're on stoge with no turningbock, lt's o greot woy to get to know
whot you con reollydo ond where your weok oreosore,

Thebestwoy to leornony scolesor scole potternsisto relqtethem to o chord immediotely,lt's importont

to heor,rightfrom the beginning,how b scoleworksmusicolly.

@ cz PRAcrrcE
TpAcK
Whileployingthe C dominontdiminishedscole olong with the G7 groove proctice trock, listento how it
soundsond relotesto the chord,Thediminishedscole isolmostolwoysployed over o functioningdominont
7th chord, but for now proctice the scoleover o dominont 7th chord vomp.

Yourfirsttendency might be to storton the lowestnote ond ploy up or storton the highestond ploy down.
Thot'sokoy of first,but you shouldplon to breok owoy from thot hobit os soonos possibleby procticingthe
scolesfrom differentstortingnotesin the middle of the scole.Thegool isto memorizethe scolesos o com-
plete group of notesin which you con stortond stop oqywhere,
".'
you shouldbe lookingfor difficultfingeringsor pickingobstoclesond ploce some extro
Technicolly,
emphosison theseoreos,Musicolly,you shouldtry to hove some fun with thesescolesby odding rhythmic
voriotionsond occents.
Unit5: DiminishedScqleSequences
l'm not o big believerin exercises.I would rothershowyou some ideosthot ore not only good for building
techniquebut ore olsomelodicond interestingenough to usewhen performing,I hove io odmit, however,
thot l'm cought in the middlewhen it comes to scolesequences.Althoughthey borderon soundinglike
ploin old exercises,scqlesequencescon be powerfulmelodictoolsfor improv6ingif usedproperly,
Sequencesore o processof ployingthe notesof o scole in o mothemoticolorder,Typicollyployed os
descendingor oscendinglines,sequencescon be mode up of two or more notes.Sequencescon olsobe
o significonthelp in leorningscole potternsond con offer somevery chollengingpickingond fingering
movements, .

Due to theirsymmetricolpotterns,diminishedond whole-tonescolesore noturolsfor opplyingsequences.

Thediminishedscoleoffersmore cool soundingsequencesthon ony scole I con thinkof. Coming up ore o
few fovorites.Check them oll out on the CD before you leorn ony; then pick two or three thot you like best
to stort,Get them down os well os you con ond usethem, Leornthe othersonly when you feel you con
odd them to your ployingwithoutjeopordizingthe onesyou firstleorned.lt's much better to hove o few
thot you con useinsteodof severolthot you're strugglingwith ond con't quite pioy,

Severolof the sequence exomplesore shownwith o suggestedchord thot the line fitsover, However,one
importontthing obout diminishedmelodiesisthot they willolwoyswork over severolother chordstoo,
Loter,we willexplorehow to usethe diminishedscole in detoil.Butfor now, know thot if o sequenceis
shownfor G7, for exomple,thot linewillolsofit over lb7, Gb7,ond E7.Thesefour chordsore qll equolly
spoced q minor3rd oport ond oll occept the somcidimlnished scole.
a

E) Exomple4
Let'sbegin with o few closic diminishedsequences,A lineeverysoxployerknowsisthisone for G diminished.
lt's builtwiih the scoletonesin thisorder:2-l-4-3-6-5.
etc,

Mony of the sequencesond licksin the diminishedscole include4th intervols. Thislinewillhelp you moster
the technique of fingering4thswith o bone or two notes ployed with one finger.Thefingeringsore nototed,
lf you hove borringwith your 4th finger,the fingeringscon be ployed, in mony instonces,with o combino-
tion of your 3rd ond 4th fingers.
tizs -
aJ Exdmple 5
Anotherwell-knowndiminishedsequenceisthisdescendinglinefor the dominontdiminished
scole for Bl.
Your4th fingerwillget o good workoutwith thisone,
t N -
L2)Example6
Thenextsequenceissimilorto the firstone, A good descendingline,it contoinsseverolfourthintervolsond
followsthisnote sequence:6-5-8-7-4-3-6-5,
etc, lt's ployed oroundthe 8th fret ond mokeso good linefor C7,

Example6A
Sequencessuch os thisone con be olteredrhythmicollyto creOte\Cifferent occents,Forexomple,disploce
oll of the notesby shiftingthem to the left one l6th note eorlier,mokingthe firstnote o pickup,Continueto
repeot thisprocedure,mokingthe firsttwo notesthe pickup ond then mokingthe firstthree notesthe pickup,
Also,convertExomple6 ond eoch voriotionin Exomple6A into8th notes,8th-notetriplets,ond l6th-note
triplets,

8th-notetriplets:
, R -
&A Example 7
Thesequencein Exomple7 isqn oscendinglinefor the A diminished scole,Thislinecon be ployed,position-
wise,o few differentwoys,Showniso pottern designedto keep the sequence in o relo1vever1col position.
However,it requireso bit of o stretchwhen you reoch the 4th string,

AdimT

@ ExampteI
Youmight find it eqsierto ploy the lostsequencein o horizontolfoshionusingthe four-note-per-string
pottern.
Tosovespoce, l've shownonlythe firsttwo borsof the sequence,Workit out so ybu con continueup to
'lst
the high F$on the string.

AdimT
t6

@ Exompte 9
One of my fovoritediminishedsequencesisthisdescendingline.lt's o repeotingsix-notesequencethot is
designedto followodjocent stringsetswhilestoyingin the scole pottern.Youmight find it eosierto pick by
stortingwith o downstrokeon the firstnote (C) ond then olternote-pickthe entireline,

@ Examptel0
A weolth of ideosisot our fingertipswhen we thinkof the diminishedscole in termsof intervols,Although
the followingexomplesore stillconsideredsequences,we willorriveof them in o differenlwoy from the
nume1colpotternsshowneorlier,Byplocing voriousintervols(3rds,4ths,Sths,etc,) obove scole ond orpeggio
tones,we con discoverseveroluniquediminishedsounds.

In foct, on interestingcoincidenceoccurswhen certoin intervolsore ploced obove the four notesof o

diminished7th orpeggio(see Unit5 on orpeggios),Theresultingeight notesodd up to oll the notesin o
diminishedscole.Plocingo mojor3rd, perfect Sth,or minor7th intervolobove the hotesof o dimTth
orpeggio resultsin o dominontdiminishedscole,Ploceo 4th, minor6th, or mojor7th ond you get the
diminished scqle,

An exompleof thisconcept isthisusefulline builtfrom mojor3rd intervolsploced obove the four notesof o
GdimTorpeggio.Theresultiso G dominontdiminishedsequence.l've odded q pickingtwistto the
descendingport of thislineby olternotingthe order in which the intervolsore ployed,
@ Examplet I
Theintervolsequencein Exomple I I issimilorto the lostbut usesSth intervols,Here,Sthsore stocked
obove the four nofesof on AdimTorpeggio,Anotherwoy you con look of thislineisSth intervolsmoving
up minor3rds,Eitherwoy, the resultiso greot linefor A7,

@ Example12
Combiningintervolscon creote interesting soundsolso.Thisexomplecombinesolternoting4thsond mojor
3rds.I thinkof thissequenceos 4thsmovingup minor3rds,with olternoting3rdsolsomoving up minor3rds.
All resultingnotesodd up to on E,G, Bb,or C$dominontdiminishedscole,Thelinecon be ptoyeOnot only
over E7,os shown,but olsoover G7, Bb7,or C*7,
@ Exomple13
offsetfeel due to itsfive-
Up next iso cholenging voriotionof the previousexomple,Thissequencehos on
by o mojor3rd intervol
note phroses.lt oeglns-withtwo 4th intervolsployed o minor3rd oporf followed
mojor 3rd intervolbecomes the
stortingo whole step obove the stortingtone. However,the iop holf of the
Thiscreoteso five-notemelodythot is repeoted severoltimes
firstnote of onothergroup of 4th intervots,
stillusestwo 4th intervols
movingup bsthintervols,Descending,the five-notemelody iso bit differentbut
followedby o singlenote,
Unil6: Diminished
Arpeggios
@ Examptet4A: C Diminished7th Arpeggio
Thereore o few veryusefulorpeggios foundin the diminishedscole,Thediminished
7thorpeggioisthe
mostcommon,lt'sbosicolly everyothernoteof the scolewitheoch noteo minor3rdobovethe next,lt
con be fingeredo few woys,but let'sstortwiththispottern,

v v
-
v v
^ o
e
v
v
o ^
v
O

^ ^ o
v
A\

Thediminished7th chord isthe only type resultingfrom the troditionolhormonizotion of the diminished
scole (3rdsstockedon top of eoch scoletone). lf you hormonizethe scole,the resultwillbe eight diminished
7ths,one builtoff eoch scoletone.

Youmight find it interesting

thot combiningtwo diminished7th orpeggios,eithero holf or whole step opori,
creotesthe eight notes of the diminishedscole.Thisofferssome interestingimprovisingoptions.

Let'sfirstlook ot onotherorpeggiofound in the diminishedscole.Thisorpeggioison edited-downversion

of the first,One woy to look ot it isthot it'sjustthe notesof o diminished7th chord voicingon oll sixstrings,
or b5intervolsmovingup mojor6ths,Eitherwoy, it'so cool orpeggio but o bit trickyto ploy, Eventhough
it's only one note per string,I stillolternote-pickthe orpeggio beginningwith o downstroke.lt con olsobe
ployed usingo sweep-pickingtechnique,Thefret-hondfingeringisolsoshown.

T
2

v
^
v
^ o
v
x O
v
^ o
v
A
Example l4C: B Dominant DiminishedArpeggio
Drowingfrom the dominontdiminishedscole,here'so five-note-per-octove orpeggio.lt isbuiltwith the
rooI,b2(b9),3rd,Sth,ond bTthof the scole.lt's o good orpeggiofor oltereddominonts'
87(be)

v v
^ ^
- v
-
v
x x -
v v !t

^ ^
v tt
A ^

Example l4D: B Dominanl DiminishedSnape Arpeggio

An unusuolvorio1onof the lostexompleisconstructedusingthe root,b2,3rd,ond Sth of the dominont
diminishedscole,Thisfour-noteshope isthen tronsposedup o mojor6th ond repeoted.Theprocesscontinues
o thirdtime up to the 1ststring,
B70e) :r

v v
^
!t v
^ ^
x ^ x
v o
- v
^ ^
v v
A -

Example l4E: Flafted Sth Bb Diminished Arpeggio

Thefinol diminishedorpeggio isoctuollyo stockof b5intervols.By leovingout everyother note of the
diminished7th orpeggio,we get thisvery horizontol,one-note-per-stringorpeggio,A good left-hondfinger-
ing is I -2-3-1-3-4
when oscendingond the reversewhen descending.
b-

v
^
v
^
- 5
v
-
^
Unit7: Usi the DiminishedScqle
Thediminishedscole,due to itsuniquetensionsound,isolmostolwoysusedos on olteredscole over
func-
tioningdominont7th chords,Youmoy be osking,"Aren't you supposedto ploy the diminishedscole
over
diminishedchords?"Theonswerisyes;however,we need to look o litfledeeper into diminishedchords
thot showup in tunes,Mostof the chordsore substituting
for dominont7ths,

Beforewe tolk obout usingthe scoleover dominonts,let'sfirstlookof diminishedchords,In theory,o diminished

chord iso three-notetriod with o root, minor 3rd, ond flotted, or diminished,Sih, Much more common in
populormusicisthe diminished7th cho?d,Thisiso four-noteversionwith o root, minor
3rd,ond flotted Sth
ond 6th (correctlycolled o double-flottedor diminished7th),All four notesore evenlyspoced,three holf
steps(minor3rd) oport, Becouseoll four tonesore equollyspoced, ony note con be consideredthe root,

Thismeonsthot Bdim7,for exomple,isolsoDdim7,Fdim7,qnd AbdimT.Thisexploinswhy we con slideo fin-

geringof o diminished7th chord up or down three fretsond stillend up with the some chord,The
only
thing thot chonges isthe order or inverdonof the notes,not the notesthemselves,

Thisdiminishedprincipolworkshugelyin our fovor when it comes to opplyingthe diminishedscole.The

scoleworksexoctlylikethe dimTchord on the guitorfingerboord,Slidethe finge1ngpottern up or down
three fretsond you get the some scole,Theonly differenceisthe scole'srqnge (highestond lowestnotes),

In oddition,similorto the diminishedchord, ony dimirlisniOscolecon hove four roots.The imporfqnf lhing
fo remember is thof fhe four roofs ore fhe uppel notes in ilre,trolf steps.

Example l5A
Let'slook of o C diminishedscole,

Cdiminishedscqte:C D E F Gb Ab A B C
Sle p s b e l w e e n : 1 j /2 1 112 1 j/2 I 1/2
Youcon see thot the scolefollowso symmetricolsequenceof olternotingwhole ond holf steps,Becouse
of this,the scole hos multipleroots,Besidesbeing C, it's olsoon Eb,Gb,ond A diminishedscote,

How thisreollypoysoff to improvisersisthe foct thot every diminishedsequence,orpeggio,lick,ond so on,

con be ployed in four keys/positions
on the fingerboordond stillwork over o given chord,Thiseliminotes
the need to leorndiminishedlinesin more thon one position.
22

Example l5B: DiminishedScale over Dominsn] Tths

In modern musicstyles,dominontTthsore much more prominentthon dimTthchords.And in mony coses,
thesedominontTthsore primeplocesfor usto usethe diminishedscole,

Thereore two woysto locote the conect diminishedscoleto useover o dominont7th,Thetroditionql

opprooch isto ploy o diminishedscoleo holf step obove the root of the domTthchord:Abdiminished
scole tor G7 or C diminishedscole for 87 ore o few exomples,Mony ployersrelqtethot B7(b9)
isessentiolly
o CdimTchord.Theyolwoyskeep in mind thisholf-steprelotionship between o domT ond o dim7.

Simplerfor mony iswhot might be cdttedthe modol opprooch,Juststorton the root of the domT ond ploy
o diminishedscole leodingoff with o holf step rotherthon o whole step,Somemusicionscoll thismode the
dominontdiminishedscole,os mentionedeorlier,

Belowiso B dominontdiminishedscoleshowingthe whole ond holf steps,Thegrophic includesthe result-

ing 87 chord tonesond olterotions,

B domlnont diminlshed scole: B C D Eb F Gb Ab A B

87 scqle tones: Root b9 f9 3rd b5 sth 6th b7 Root
Stepsbelween: | /2 1 112 1 1/2 1 112 I

Similorto the diminishedscole,ony dominontdiminisQedhosfour possiblenomes,Thefour rootsore the

lowernotesin the holf steps.So,B dominontdiminishedisolsoD, F,ond Abdominontdiminished,

Whichof thesetwo opproochesisbest?lt's up to you. goth U.t the some results,Choosethe opprooch
thot helpsyou quicklylocote the conect diminishedscqlefor o domTth.lf it'seosierto thinkup o holf step
ond grob the diminishedscole,go with thot. Butif you would rotherhove o scolethot stortsrightout on
the root of the chord, usethe dominontdiminished,
 23

h -
M Example 16: Usingihe DiminishedScale in ii-V-l Progressions
l'm sureby now you've testedthe soundof the diminishedscoleover o dominont7th,You'veeven
jommed over o domT vomp to proctice the scole,Thisisgreot, but proboblythe best ploce to stortopplying
the diminishedscole isover the ii-V-lprogression,
As you moy olreodyknow,the ii-V-lprogression isthe
moinstoyof iozzstondordsond pop music,lt's o simpleprogression thot incorporotesone of the most
importontond essentiolospectsof music:tensionond resolution, TheV in the progression isthe tension
chord leodingushome to the I chord (resolution),
Thell chord usuollyocts os o set-upchord workingwith the V,

Belowiso ii-V-lin C, Suggestedscolesorp shownbelow the stoff,

ii-V-lProgression
in C Mojor
Dm7 G7

D Dorion G dom/dim C mojor

(C mojo) (N diminished)

Noticethot the chordsore in theirbosic 7th form,Thisishow mostchortsqnd foke booksore written,The
composerwilltypicollyleove it up to you to chooseextended or olteredvoicingsof chords(Dm9,G.|3CI5),
Cmoi6l9,etc,).Theonly timesyou'll likelysee big scorychordslikethisore on musicchortsthot hove o spe-
cific orrongementwhere certoinolteredor extended.voicings ore colled for.
: '
't r
TRACK .'
@ Example16A:ii-V-lin C PRACTICE
Puton the CD ii-V-lin C ProcticeTrockond try out the diminishedscqleover the V chord, but only over the
V chord,Whenthe progression reochesthe l, Cmoj7,you need to switchto the C scole.Tryto moke the
scole chongessmoothwithoutinterruption,

As for os positions
on the fingerboordgo, o good stortingploce isoroundthe 3rd fret.Thinkof the common
G7 voicingot the 3rd fret ond ploy the scolepotternthere,Youwillolsoneed to knowC mojorin thot qreo too,

Whenyou've got thispositiondown o bit, slidethe diminishedpottern up o minorthird ond proctice the
progressionthere.Locotethe C-mojorscolethere olsoto remoinin thot position.One secretisto pretend
thot the Bb7,oI the 6th fret, isG7 ond referencethe diminishedscoleoff of the Bb7,

Tokethisideo o step furtherond pretendthe Db7,ot the 9th fret, isolsoG7, Thisiso good thinkingsubstitute
becouseDb7isthe flot-fivesubstituteof G7. Go up onotherminor3rd to the l2th fret ond pretend E7isolsoG7.
24

@ Examptet 7: ihV-l Lineswith the DiminishedScale

Now for o few ii-V-llinesfeoturingthe diminishedscole over the V, Mostore rhythmicollysimple,which
mokesthem eosierto leorn,Once you get o few underyour fingersond in your eors,you'll be oble to
moke them your own, Soon,you'll be oble to moke slightrhythmicolmodificqtionsor odd voriousstylistic
effects such os bends, hommers,pull-offs,ond sweeps,

Let'sstortwith o simpleii-V-llinein G mojor.lt stortswith on Am9 orpeggioleodinginto on Ebdiminished

lineover the D7 resolvingto B,the 3rd of Gmoj7.

Am7 GmojT

@ Example18
Next iso ii-V-lline in C with two borson eoch cl'iofd,Twob.orsgivesyou more time to develop on ideo on
eoch chord, Of course,you con hove the similorbenefitby ployingprogressions thot chonge everyfour
beots or even everytwo beots if the tempo isslowenough,

Thefirsttwo borsin thisexompledemonstroteo bebop lineover Dm7.TheAbdiminishedis plqyed over G7

usingo few shope ideosresolvingto Cmoj7.

Dm7

CmojT
 @ Examptet9
Exomplel9 isonotherlinein c, thistime using16ths,stortingin
o higherregister,
the firstphroseiso clqssic
l6th-notetripletlickin D minor,over the G7, on Abdiminisheoorpeggio
sequenceoscendsup to o resolution
on o highE.
Dm7 .\1

@ Exampte20
Movingto the key of D, thislinefeoturesmojortriodsover the AZ,creoting
on oltereddiminishedsound,
Thetriodsore Ff mojorond Ebmojor.(SeeUnit9 on mojortriodsin the
diminishedscole,)

@ Exampte
2t
Exomple2l iso voriotionof o ii-V-lprogression, similorto o turnoround,o Vl7 isodded to set up ond resolve
bock to the ii' In thiscose A7(b9)followsCmojTond resolvesto Dm7,which
isfollowedbv G7 toking us
bock to cmojT' Thisprogression isii-v-l-v|7,A typicolturnoroundis l-Vl7-ii-V,
so, the melodic tinesin this
exomplecon be switchedoroundto work over o turnoroundtoo,

A few stylistic
tripletsore included,inspiredby ployerssuchos pot Morlinoond Joe poss,
clossicbop phroses, os well os severol
Dm7 CmojT
\21
A7(be)
@ Exampte22
Anothervery importontprogression to be fomiliorwith isthe minorii-V-i,lt worksthe some os o mojor ii-V-l
os for os tension-resolution
goes,except the i iso minorchord ond the ii iso m7(b5)chord.Theminorll-V-lin
C minorisDm7(b5)-G7(b9)-Cm7, Theb9odded to the V in foke booksiso greot indicotorof o minorkey,

Theii or m7(b5)issometimesreferredto os holf-diminished

becousethe firstthree notesform o diminished
triod.Althougho few otherscolesore commonlyused over it (Ebmojor,C hormonicminor,ond F melodic
minorfor Dm7(b5)), the diminishedisolsoo good choice, ForDm7(b5),useo D diminishedscole.lt turnsout
thot D diminishedisthe some os Ab$iminished,which isthe scole usedfor G7(bg),So you cqn usethe some
diminished scolefor the ll ond V in minor.

Thisporticulorlick useson interesting

crisscross
fingerboordshope throughthe firsttwo bors.Thediminished
shope issevennoteslong ond repeotsdown b5intervols, A few libertieswere token to keep the shopes
eosierto ploy.Thisresultedin o few notesnot in the Abdiminishedscole (Ebond A in the second bor),They
don't seemto conflictwith the diminishedsoundond come off soundinglikepossingtones,

Dm7(b5) G7(be)
Unit8: Six-NoteDiminishedShopes

Wg:BbDiminish
on"o six-noteshopes.|t,sogreotwoytoinventol|kinds
of unusuqldiminishedideosond isverysimple,Livingritnin the bosic
diminishedscole pottern (Exomple
3o) ore three six-noteshopes,Eoch shope is ployed-on two odjocent
strings-shope l: 6th ond Sth strings;
Shope2: 4thond 3rd strings;ond Shope3: 2nd ond lst strings.Lqcn
shope isfingeredond ptoyed exocly
lne some.

- - - ^
v v v
^ ^ - ihape 3
v
^
v v
x.
!t
^ hme 2 O
v

v v
-
v
^
v v
X I $tra 1

@ Examples24A-24F: Diminishedshape Melodies

once you leornond understondthe shopes,creote o melody with the
notesof the firstshope.Themelody
doesn't necessorilyhove to hove sixnotes,lt con hoy{ ostmonyor "ignt or more ond
four,Then,just repeot the melody in eoch of the thrJe shopes.r os few os three or
\
Hereore o few diminishedshope melodiesl've found to be uery usetut.

Exomple24A Exomple24B

Exomple24D Exomple24E Exomple24F

28
Unit9: Mqior Triqdsin the DiminishedScole
A surprising
numberof chordscon be extroctedfrom the diminishedscole,includingminor,m7, dim7,
dom7, ond severololtereddominonts:domT(bs),domT(f9),ond doml3(bg)to nome o few, Developing
linesby combiningorpeggiosfrom thesechordsofferso lifetimeof explorotionin diminishedsounds,

However.onotherchord, olsofound in the scole,stondsout for itssimpleond pure sound-the mojortriod,

Byopplyingthe diminishedprinciple,we discovernot one but four mojortriodslivingin everydiminished
scole'Theyore equollyspoced minor3rdsoport, ond when combined,somevery cool soundsemerge,

@ Exampte25:
Mqior Triod Posifionsfor Bb Diminished (A Dominont Diminished Scole Over A7
Creotinglineswith mojortriodswithinthe diminishedscoleiso fqvoritetechniqueof conternporory
)azptoyeii.
Thebestwoy to unlockthe power of the mojortriodsin diminishedisto leorntheirorpeggioshopesin speci1c
positions.
And sincemostopplicotionsof diminishedlinesore over domT chords,the pbsitionsshouldbe
bqsed on domT chordsos well,Thefollowingexompleillustrotes the four mojortriod orpeggiosin posi1on
surroundingon A7 chord of the Sthfret,Themojor orpeggiosore A, C, Eb,ond Ff,

A7 (A) (Eo

Adding togetherthe notesfrom eoch triod totols 12pitches;however,losethe duplicotesond the totol
becomeseight,the exoct notesof the diminishedscole,

Shiftoll four triodsup o minor3rd ond somethinginterestingoccurs.Theyoll reoppeor,justin o different

order'TheA triod becomesC, C becomesEb,Ebbecomes Ff,ond F*is now A. Thisprocesscontinuesup
onotherminor3rd ond so on,

Withthe triodsunderyourfingers,experimentcombiningshortphrosesfrom eoch triod over o stqticA7

vomp, Youmight,for exomple,ploy three or four notesfrom eoch triod, lt doesn't motter in whot order you
ploy the triodsor on which one you stortor end. Justkeep in mind the chord you ore ployingover,in
this
cose A7.
30

@ Example26
Hereore some exomplelinesdemonstrotingthisconcept. They'reoll nototed in the some key becouseof
the eose in which diminishedlinescon be moved in minor3rds,In foct, ony diminishedideo ployed on
three consecutivefretscoversqll l2 keys,Thismeonso diminishedlinefor A7 ployed of the Sthfret works
tor A7,C7, Eb7,ond Ff7, Move the lineup one fret ond it now worksfor Bb7,Ci7, E7,qnd G7, Move it up
one more fret ond it now covers87, D7,F7,ond Ab7-oll l2 dominont7ths,

A mojor C mojor Ebmojor Ff mojor A mojor C mojor Ebmojor Filmojor

Thefirstexompleisbuiltoff the triodsmoving up minor3rdsstortingwith A mojor,Becousethere ore mony

possiblewoysto ploy lineslikethis,it'schollengingfor guitor ployersto find the bestfingeringpottern,The
exompleshowsone thot worksfor me, I might of timeS,however,ploy everytriod in thislineusingthe some
three-noteshope on two strings,Forexomple,tl'eiflrstA triod would be ployed the some,but the following
C triod would olso be fingered the some, stortingon the 3ru fret, Sth string,followed by the next two notes
'position
on the 4th string,2nd ond Sthfrets,Thisrequiresquite o bit of shiftingbut often worksout better in
mony situotions,

Somethingimportontto rememberobout symmetricqllinesisthot you ore more likelyto ploy shorterseg-

mentsin reol-worldsoloing,Mony of the ideos(especiollythe sequences)in thisbook ore quite long,often
coveringseveroloctoves,They'regreot for leorningthe fingerboordond buildingtechnique,but you prob-
obly wouldn't wont to ploy them in theirentiretyin on improvisedsolo.

@ Example27
Thisvoriqtionof Exomple26 reonongesthe triodsinto o four-notepickingsequence,lt beginswith the 5th
of eoch triod followedby the root,3rd.ond Sthogoin,
@ Exampte28
Somerhythmicvoriotionisqdded to the next triod lineto demonstrqteone of thousondsof possibilities,
Rhythmicolphrosing,when introducedto symmetricolscole melodiesond sequences,con
reollybreoth
life into theirsometimespredictobleond mechonicolsound,

Thelinestortswith on A-mojortriod ond then jumpsup to the F$,Thesome phroseis repeoted

with the next
two triods.Ebond C, TheA-to-Ebtriod phroseisthen ployed ogoin, on octove higher,before o
btuesyending.

@ Exampte29
Exomple29 lookslikeo workoutof first,but once you understondthe formulo,it's o bit eosier,Agoin,
A, C,
Eb,ond Ff triqdsore usedfor thisA dominontdiminishedlin0.Thelineiso 9-notesequencethot isrepeoted
up minor3rd intervols.But,unlikethe previousexqmpl6s,the trigds.oreployed in differentinversions,

Followingon A-mojortriod in root position,on Filtriod isployed stortingon its3rd,then Sth,ond root.
TheEb
triod beginson the Sthto the root ond 3rd leodinginto o C-mojortrioOin root position.Thiscomptetes
the
bosicsequence

Now the entirelineisrepeotedo minor3rd higherond so on, Fingerings con be chollenging,but I think
you'llfind it'sworth the efforfto work them out, Thissequenceofferssomevery cool melodic possibilities.

A7
@l Exampte30
with on A-mojortriod,the linemovesto on
Exomple30 opproochesthe triodso bit differenfly,Descending
second bor,the sequenceis inverted'
Filtriod,followedby Ebond c triods,when the lineoscendsin the
os 8th-or l6th-notetriplets'lt olsomokeso
Thisline invitesslidesor hommer-onsin severolploces,Alsotry it
lost E note os o pickup to stort out if
good technique exercisewhen repeoted severoltimes,Add the very
you like.

@ Example3l
exploredthe diminished scolethrough
JozzgreotsJohncottron"ond chick coreo,omongothers,hove minor 7thorpeggios
triodshopes.Thenextexompledemonslrotes.o;torlort eight-notesequenceusing
q
ofcs fournotesof minorpentotonic
mixedwithmojortriods,Theminor7thorpeggibdcon osg 5e thought pentotonic, Thislineis
5-b7-root-b3')
withthe b3on top, (Forexomple:G, Bb,c, ono Ebore fromi-minor horizontolfoshion'
positionbecouseit iseosierto ployin o descending
locotedin o higherfingerboord

@ Exampte32
o bit of rhythmond o posing note (F noturo
Usingthe concepr frornthe previousexomple,the next lick uses less
Theeight-notesequenceisolsobrokenup to moke it sound
in the firstbor) to odd more musicolity,
oredictoble.
 @ Exampte33
Minor7th orpeggioscon olsobe thoughtof os mojortriodswith on odded
6th tone. And in everydiminished
scolethere ore olsofour minorzth orpeggios,spoced minor3rdsoport.

Here' osline usingthe four minor7th orpeggiosin the Bbdiminishedscole(Am7,

cm7, Ebm7,ond c$m7),
Thisisonotherlinethot's o good technicolexercisewhen repeoted
mony times,Usethe losthigh C#os o
pickup to the beginning,

@ Exampte34
Thefinoltriodicdiminishedlinedemonstrotescombiningtriodswith on unequol
omount of notes.This
mokesthe linesoundmore interesting ond unpredictoble.lt's o l6-note sequencethot isrepeoted up flot
Sth intervqls'Theentirethree-borlineiso tremendousfingeringond picking
exercise,but you might 1nd the
lostbor o very usoblelick,
s
,- |
A four-noteA-mojortriod beginsthe linefollowedby only thr& rtotesof on F*
triod ending on Bb,ThisBb
becomesthe Sthdegree of on Ebtriod ond isfollowedby the root ond 3rd,Then
comes o four-note,root-
positionC-mojortriod,Thesequenceiscompleted with o descending
A-mojortriod,Theentireline isnow
repeoted stortingon Ebond ogoin on A on octove higher.

Thebest-keptsecretobout diminishedlines,such os the exomplescovered so for,ishow

one line con
become four uniquelines.Forinstonce,if we ore soloingover A7 ond ploy triod Exomple
2g moved up o
minor3rd (or bsihor 6th),it tokeson o differentsoundfrom the originoilocotion,Atthough
ii,sstillin the Bb
diminishedscole,differentnotesore occented, givingit o similorbut differentfeel.Thisii greot
newswhen
you're tryingto get the mostout of linesyou leorn,So,if you get bored with
one of your Jminishedlines,
move it to onotherlocotionolong the minor3rd cycle, lt justmight soundbetter thon
ever,
UNIT| 0: Usi he DiminishedScqleOver Siqlic Ghords
.r970s combiningthe soundsond instru-
Bythe eorry fusion, or jozz+ock,emerged from the worrdof ioz.,jozz, stondordsgove
sophisticotion of Troditionoljozz
mentotionof rock with the hormonyond improvising or stotichormonies'
woy to new formsof compositions thot reriedmore on rhythm,grooves,ond modor
prou"n-irprovisingconceptsin new ond unique
Jozzproyersquicklyodopted to the new musicby using
troditionololteredscolessuchos diminished'
woys.Thisnew opprooch to rock mode it eosierto use"the
wrong only o decode before'
whole-tone,ond melodicminorin plocesconsidered
over stoticchords'A stoticdomT isthe obviousstort-
ln thissectionwe.ll leornsome diminishedscole lines
over m7, m7(b5),ond domT(f9)'
ing proce;however;o few exompresdemonstrotediminished
for exompre,berongsto o lorge fomilyof extended
rt,simportontto rememberthot q stoticchord rikec7, ttn
Bb/Core extendedversionsof C7' And for soloing'
dominonts.Chordssuchqs C9, Cl l' Cl3' CTsus'ond
scole choicesfor oll of theseore the some'

@ Example35 proper
scole over stotic chords'ison exercisein
Another i.ponoriiote: Good soloing,usingthe diminished
the score sound rilnt, you need to weove in ond out of the scqle,olternotingit with tfp
phrosing. To moke ond
entiretime, your solowilllikelysoundtoo outside
home scole,lf you justploy the diminishedscolethe ond the c dominont
nonsensicol, stortsotr inir qecilrn. lt combinesthe c bluesscole
A stoticc7 bluesricr<
diminished scole. 3 L

@ Exsmple36
onotherbluesydiminishedlickfor c7' To hove
we,ll odd o few bendsto the next stoticexomple,creoting c
on insid6bluesor iozzphroseusingo c bluesor o
on effectiveimpoct, thislick shouldbe set up with
Mixolydion scole'
Min o r
Thenexttwo diminishedlinesore over o stoticm7. Applyingthe diminishedscolethiswoy is
definitelyo
technique reservedfor iozzsituotions,
Theexomplesolso demonstrotetwo differentopprooches to super-
imposingthe diminishedover m7 chords,

@ Exampte37
Thisexompleshowso more troditionolopprooch. Joz.ployersfound thot they could creote tension
ond
resolutionover o singlechord by occosionollyhintingof itsV, An exompleiswhen soloingover Cm7, ploy
shortG7 phrosesthot resolvebock to Cm7 even though the occomponistcontinuesto ptoy Cm7,Well-
ploced G7 ideoscon odd significontlyto o solo,TheseG7 ideoscon be impliedwith
severolscoles,including
diminishedond whole-tone,

Exomple37 iso two-bor line with the firstline o jozz phrosefor Cm7, Thesecond bor twistsinto o few mojor
triodsfrom the Abdiminishedscole before resolvingbock to cm7,

Cm7 (G70e)

@ Example38
Creotingmore of o modern,outsidesound,the next lineover Cm7 useso Dbdiminishedscole in the sec-
ond ond third bors'In thisopprooch,the Cm7 istreoted similorly
to o C7 by the useof the some diminished
scole,(ForCm7 useC dominontdiminishedor Dbdiminished,) Tokecore not to overemphosize the E notes
(mojor3rd) over the Cm7,

Cm7
Minor 7(b5)
Unusuolbut stillworth consideringiso stoticm7(b5),Becquseof itsdiminishedproperlies.the m7(b5)iso
noturollocotionfor the diminishedscole.Thinkof it os the sqme os o dimTond locote the diminishedscole
rightoff of itsroot (Em7(b5),
useE diminishedscole),

@ txampte39
Thelickstorlswith on Em7(b5)
orpeggioond chongesto E diminishedleodinginto the second bor,Theno
bosicdiminishedsequencedescendsbock down to the chord'sroot,

Thislinecon qlsobe ployed over C7, Em7(b5)

qnd C7 ore both in the key of F mojor,Em7(bS)
con olsobe
thought of os o substitutefor C9,

r
DominqnfT(tg> :'
Thedominont7($9)isone of the only oltereddominontsthot [ .ito usedin stoticsituqtions.
FromHendrix's
"Purple
Hoze"to numerousbluesond funktunes,the domT(*9)lendsitselfwell to the diminishedscole,The
chord hos both o mojorond minor3rd (il9)thot isolsoreflectedin the scole.

@ Example4O
Thislick useso five-noteDbdiminishedshope olternotingwith o C-minorpentotonicscole,

c7($e)
 TheWhole-Tone
Scqle
U N I TI l : F i n s of lhe Whole-Tone
Scqle
!et's stortout by leorningo good fingeringfor the whole-tonescole,"Onlyone pottern?,,you
moy osk,
Justos with the diminishedscole,it'sonly procticolto leorn one movoble pottern,lf you
'ngering or two, stick olreodyknow o
with them or feel free to modifythispotternto suityourtechniqueond styte.Theultimote
gool isto be oble to ploy the whole-tonescqle onywhereon the guitorin
ony key,
Thisison especiollyeosytoskfor tne wnlle-tone scqlesincepotterns
repeot up or down the fingerboord
every two frets,Remember,ony note in the scole con be the root, so thispottern
is not only on A whole-
tone but olsothe B,C$,Df, F,ond G whole_tonescoles,

@ Example4t A: pATTERN
#l
Thispottern givesyou o ronge of two ond one-thirdoctovesond usesthree-note-per-string
moveson the
6th,4th, ond lst strings'Thesecon be o bit of o stretchif you're not usedto them,
especiollytoweron the
fingerboord,Mostployers(includingme) usetheir lst, 3rd,ond 4th fingers;however,
some usetheir lst,
2nd,ond 4th.

A good pickingpottern for thisscole isto useolternotiqgprickingstortingwith o downstroke

on the firstlow A,
..,

A Whole-Tone
Scole

v ^
v v
^
tt tt
^ ^
v v
x ,R, x
v
^ v -
v

A ^ ^
Ex #2: fhe "SPeed" Version
4tB: PATilEPN
versionthot, in mony
Byremovingthe bottomond top notesfromthe firstpottern,we hove o streomlined
moy be moreuseful,
instonces, Youend up withonlyone three-note-per-stringmove(4thstring),ond the
pottern loysnice in one position.lt'sstilltheA whole-tonescole,but it's proboblyeosierto thinkof it os the
B whole-tonescole,

Scole
BWhole-Tone

How to Leqrn ond Prqctice the Whole-ToneScqle

@ tz ppncncerRncrc
Here,son A7 groove on the CD to ploy olong with, As I hove mentionedbefore,it isimportontto heor,
rightfrom the-beginning,how o scoleworksmusicolly.As you proboblyfiguredout by now, the whole'tone
sCole,likethe diminished,is primorilyployed over o dominont 7th chord. Althoughitsmore common usoge
isover o functioningdominont7th,it isstillo greot ideo to proctice the scqleover o stoticdominont7th
chord vomp.

One greot thing obout the whole-toneisthot you con simplyslidethe pottern up or down two frets'The
scole will stillbe in the some key; only the ronge (lowestond highestpossiblenotes)will chonge, So,while
leorningthe pottern over the A7 vomp, move it to other locotionson the neck.Justvisuolizeond usethe
roots,locoted every other fret, on the low E stringos o guide'
 39

Addilionql Whole-TonePqfrerns
Hereore two more populorpotlernsfor the whole-tonescole- two-note-ond three-note-per-string
versions,

@ Example4t c: Two-Note-Per$tringPattern(c whote-Tonet

Thisexompleisunusuqlin thot when oscending,it movesdown the fingerboord.lt's eosyto ploy becouse
there ore only two notesployed on everystring,I usemy lst ond 4th fingers,but you moy feel more com-
fortobleusingyour 1stond 3rd fingersinsteod,

v v
^
v -
A ^
v ^ 5
v -
^
v
A 7 ^

Example4l D: Three-Note-Per-Slring
Paltern (G Whole-Tone)
When mostguitorployersstudythe whole-tonescqle,they inevitoblyspend time on the horizontolthree-
note-per-stringpottern.Good for long runsond chonging positions, the pottern istwo whole stepsper
stringmovingup b5intervols,Mostployersusetheir lst, 3rd, ond 4th fingers,but ogoin, lst, 2nd, ond 4th
might be better for you, To keep your ploce when crossingthe fingerboord,try wotching your firstfingeros
o guide os it movesup or down b5intervols,lf you'rejustgetting your feet wet with the whole-tonescole,
woit o few monthsbeforetocklingthisone.

v v -
A ^ ^
v v
5
^ ^ ^
v v
,q q e v

v v v
^ ^ ^
v v
A ^ ^
Ex 4l E: Five-Nole Whole-fone Pollern
There'sone more pottern I wont to showyou, similorto the six-note
shopeswe ployed with the diminished
v;lsion
r:ltl?.:o.e concept,
tt'so rive-nore
whote-rone
shope
rhorisptoyed
l?i3.iii:::,yi:,:_t"::
on the threestringsets:6-5,4-3,ond.2-1,Wecon invent
melodies withinthe shopesond oroi'"li"i;:y,i;o
or downto the nextstringset,Thepotternisverysimilor
to the firstshowneorlier(Exomple
exceptionof threenotesrotherthontwo ployedon the 2ndstring,only two notes ployed 4lo) withthe
ore on the 1ststrirg.

v !t
- ^ ^
v v v
^ - O
e
v
v
x
v
q
v
^ -
v
^ ^ ^
 Scqle Sequences
UNIT12=Whole-Tone
@ Exomple42
Hereore o few usefulwhole-tonesequences,Thisfirstone isfor the A whole-tonescole ond usesthe com-
mon I 234-2g45, etc., sequence.Procticeit slowlyond in time (with o metronomeor click) of first,Lookfor
difficultoreoseitherin pickingor fingering;then isoloteond emphosizethosesections,Moke up o short
exercisewith thissection(moybe 8 to l6 noteslong) ond repeot it severoltimesuntilyou get it down.
@ Example43A
Thenextsequenceisbuiltwith mojor3rd intervolsmoving in o porollelfoshionup the A whole-tonescole.
In reol-worldimprovising,
you would proboblynever ploy o long sequencelikethisexomple,lt's preferoble
to useshortersegmentsconnected to onothermelodic ideo. Butleornond proctice it in itsentireform to
help buildup yourtechnique,

Example 438
Here'sthe some3rdssequencedescending.

@ example44
How obout one of thoseclossicsoxophonewhole-toneriffs.Thinkof thissequenceos o four-notemelody
repeotingdown in descending3rds,
@ Exomple 45
*ere ison unusuolseven-notesequenceolong the linesof John Mcloughlinond Al DiMeolo,Odd-numbered
sequencescon soundvery cool becouseit's hord for the listenerto detect obviousnote groups,

@ Exompte45
I usethisnextsequencewith everyscole I know,lt's o littlechollengingto ploy but well worlh the effort
leorningit. lt's o six-notemelodythqt isrepeoted down b5intervols,l've includedthe fingeringson thisone
to help you work it out, Sequenceslikethisone with five-or six-notephrosessoundmore interesting
becouseit's difficultfor the listenerto trock the repeotingpottern,Check it out over Bb7,but remember
thot every note in the sequencecon be the root of o dom7, which it willolsowork over,

@ Example47
Bosedon the previousexomple,thisiso ten-notemelody repeoted q 9th intervolbelow,Youcon see thqt
it'sthe some firstsixnotes(stortingon B thistime) with four descendingscoletones,lt mokeson interesting
linefor 87.Everywhole-tonemelodycon become o sequencewhen repeoted in onotherlocotionin the
scole.
UNITI3: Whole-ToneArpeggios

Theone troditionolorpeggiothot best reflectsthe whole-tonesoundisthe ougmented orpeggio' lt's olso

symmetricolin thot it isbuiltwith mojor3rdsone on top of onother,When compored to the whole-tone,the
ougmented orpeggiosoundseveryother note, Belowiso good fingeringpotternfor the ougmented
orpeggio,Themostchollengingport might be borringwith ihe 2nd fingeron the 2nd ond 3rd strings.
Althoughit's possibleto ploy thesetrio noteswith seporotefingers,try to do it borringthe two stringssince
thistechniquewillbe extremelyusefulin the future,

Youmight find it helpfulto leornthisorpeggio in two ports:Ploythe firstfour notesover o few timesond
then work on the higherfour-notegroup.Once you get them down, connect them togetherto creqte one
"sweeps"
smoothorpeggio.Alternote-pickthe notesto get it cleon before you ventureinto the lond of
with thisorpeggio.

'4
g 2 i 4 2 2 1.,- I 2 2 4
o r 1

v ^
-
^
^ 5 A
o
v v
^
tt
A

Example 488: WholeSlep

As we justleorned,the ougmentedorpeggio outlineseveryother note in the whole-tonescole.To ploy the
noteslefi out in the scole,simplyslidethe orpeggio up or down o whole step,Thismeonsthot two ougmented
orpeggios,o whole step oport, form the notesof the whole-tonescole,Ployershove picked up on thisfor
yeors,combiningthe two orpeggiosto creote mony interestingougmented/whole-tonesounds.Thefollowirp
line iso two-octove orpeggiothot isCoug for the firstfour notes,switchingto Doug (or Bboug)for the top
four.lt's importontto rememberthot, likethe whole-tonescole,ony note in on ougmentedorpeggiocon
be consideredthe root,

v v
^
v
^
^ 5 A
o
v v
^
v
A
Example48C: C Whole-Tone
Arpeggioby combiningthe two ougmentedorpeggioswith the scole.
Here'swhot I collthe Whole-Tone
Cnec kit o u t ,

^ v ^
v
v v
^
5 ^ /^\
v v
^ ^
v -
A

Example48D: Bb(bi) AugmentedArpeggio

Thisnext orpeggiois builtwith b5intervols,lt might look fomiliorbecousewe olreodyleornedit os o dimin-
ishedorpeggio,Coincidently,it'solsoon ougmented orpeggiowith everyother note omitted,With only
one note per string,it'so bit tough to ploy,Thesecretisto fingerit l-2-3-l-3-4,
r i ?
' E

-
A
v

A\ U
^ v
v
A

Example48E: l-3-b5C AugmenledArpeggio

Hereisonotherwhole-toneorpeggio usingthree notesper octove, Builtusingthe root,3rd,ond b5,it'sfingered
in on unusuolfoshionto keep it in o verticolfour-fretoreo.

v v

^ ^ O
v
5
-
^
v
^
UNIT14=Usin the Whole-Tone
Scqle
Applicotionsof the whole-tonescolesore similorto thoseof the diminishedscole,Typicollytreoted
os on
olteredscole,the whole-tonespeokso very specificsound,Somesoy it soundsunsetling,odd, or even
spookywhileothersthinkit hos o modern outsidesound,Mostogree it does not soundvery reloxed
or
homey ond shouldbe reservedfor very specificsituotions.And thosesituotionsore over dominont7th
chords.

To reollyunderstondthe whole-tone'spotentiol,you need to understonditsmokeup ond how it compores

to o dominont7th,We discussedeorlierfunctioningond stoticdominontsond showedo comporison
of tfx
whole-toneto o dominqnt7th chord (Unit2), Youcon see thot the scole creotesthe root,2nd, 3rd,
bsth,
$Sth,ond bTthof o dominontchord. Mostmusiciqnsknow thot becouseof the olteredSths,thisleonsthe
sound,creoted by thisscole,in on ougmented direction.Thisdoesn't meon thot you con ontyploy
the
whole-toneover ougmented,DomT(bs), or *5 chords,lt is,however,o good thing to keep in mind,

Exomple 49: Whole-Tonein ii-Vl progressions

t"t,'g"ts roldfriendthemojorii-V-|progression.Returntotheii-V-|inC
ProcticeTrockflrock 18)ond try out the whole-toneover the V chord, but remember-only over
the V
chordlWhenthe progression resolvesto the lchord. Cmoj7,you olsoneed to resolveto the C scole.Stort
out ployingnonstopeven 8th notesuntilyou con moke the scolechongessmoothwithoutinterruption. Ihi
willforce you to preporeoheod for scolechonges,Thegood newsobout the whole-toneisthot itssingle
pottern isolwoyswithinyour reoch. ForG7, visuolizgoll the whole steps(stortingot the
1stfret) olong the
low E string,Eoch one of thesenotesiso root.chOitorting ploce for the pottern,

9 Exampte50:ihv4 Lineswith the whote-Tonescale

Afteryou hove spentsometime procticingwith the ii-V-lproctice trock,stortmemorizingond odding
the
followingexomples,Mostore rhythmicollysimpleond eosyto leorn,Whenyou get one down, ploy it
olong
with the trock untilyou're comfortoblewith the chonges,

Followingthe Dm7 line,which includeso few chromoticpossingnotes,iso stroightoscending (or

G B)
whole-tonescole over the G7 thot resolves
with o C-mojorscole polern over Cmoj7,
Dm7 G7

CmojT
@ exampte5l
Thenextexompledoublesup with l6th notesfor onotherii-V-lin C, We're olsomovingdown to o lowerfin-
gerboord positionoround the 3rd to Sthfret oreo. A troditionoljozz-style
melody stortsover the Dm7,setting-
up the big whole-tonelick in the second bor, Althoughthe lostnote in the bor (G$)is not in the G whole-
tone scole,it servesos o leodingtone to the Sth of CmojT(G) in the lostbor,

Dm7

@ Exompte 52
Thisii-V-llinein Bbbeginswith o Pot Mortino-inspired
Cm7 lineond then movesinto o descendingwhole-
tone/ougmentedlineoverthe F7thot resolves to the root of BbmojT.
lt hosseverolconsecutivestring-ougmented
ond mojor 7th orpeggios,which con be chollengingto pick,

Cm7
/t8

@ Exomple 53
Thisfinolexompledemonstrotes usingchromoticpossingnotesbetween scoletonesto give o bebop flovor
to the line,I olsoincludedo few rhythmsto breok up the lineto moke it more musicol.Thepossingnotesin
the whole-tone(D7)ore ploced ofter the C, Gf, E,ond lowerC, lf you tried to odd possingnotesbetween
everyscoletone, you might losethe whole-tonesound,ending up with nothingmore thon o chromoticscole.

Am7
Usingfhe Whole-ToneOver the ll7
Anotherpopulorlocotionfor usingthe whole-toneisover the ll7,Thell7 iso very common
chord usedin
hundredsof ioz., bossonovo, ond pop tunes,Tunessuchos "TheGirlFromlponemq" ond .-Toke
the A
Troin"useo ll7 os o primorychord in the progression.
colled o secondorydominont,the ll7 iso ii (minor7th)
chonged to dominont.In mony instonces,it doesn't resolvein the some woy os o V chord but is
stillo con-
didote for on olteredscolesuchos whole-tone,In foct, the whole-toneond melodicminor(up
o Sth)ore
the two scolesof choice for the ll7,

@ Example 54:II7 progressionproctice Trock

Here' osshorteight-borprogresionfeoturingthe ll7in bors3 ond 4,I've olsoincludedo flot-fivesubstitute
(Db705)for G7) in bor 8. Alsoshownore s0ggestedscoles.

TheCD proctice trock for thisprogression iso bossonovo feel in o mediumtempo, Don't feet obligoted to
ploy the whole-tonefor the entirebor (or two). Youcon switchbetween the bosic
scoleond whole-toneif
you like.Forexomple:for D7,useeitherD whole-toneor D Mixolydion(G mojor),

D7
il7

C mojor scole D whole-tone

\=l

D Dorion (C moj) G Mixolydion (C moj) C mojor Dbwhole-tone

G whole-tone
@ Exampte55:II7 ProgressionSolo*l
Agoin,juststortwith eosy rhythmswhile plocing
Now for o few exomplesof solosover the ll7 progression.
more emphosison the melody.l've includedsome fovoritemelodic ideosond o few intervolliclicksnot
only for the whole-tonebut olsoover the mojTond m7 scoles.

Thefirstone wos writienusingeosy-going8th notesond hosseverolclossicjoz motifs.

CmojT
@ Exomple 56:II7 ProgressionSolo*2
Nextiso more oggressiveond chollengingl6th-notesoloover the some progression, demonstrotingthe
useof the some sequencewith differentscoles,Theopening CmojTriffisbosed on o six-notesequence
olong with o few vqriotions,
Thesequenceisrepeoted in bor 3 (beot 2) with the D whole-tone,Bors5
through7 feotureo ii-V-llinein C thot includeson interesting whole-tonelineover the G7, lt's o G whole-
tone ployed with olternoting4th intervolsobove eoch scoletone. Thelineretoinso whole-toneflovoreven
though the upper intervqlsore out of the scole,In foct, these upper intervolsform the other (Gfi)whole-tone
scole,lt could even be lobeledo chromoticscolesinceoll l2 tonesos sounded.Thesolofinisheswith o
whole-toneline,which ismode up of ougmentedtriodsmovingup b5intervols.
CmojT

Dm7
 UNIT| 5: ModernUsesof the Whole-Tone-SlqlicChords
Let'sexplorethe useof whole-tonein o few contempororysituqtions,When usedin o modernjoz. ond
fusionstyle,the whole-toneissometimesployed over stoticchords,Stotic
dominontprogressions
stond out
os o poputorcontext for opplyingthe scole.

whole-tonesoundscon be slightlyhinted of or highlyemphosizedin o solo.Agoin,

on importontospect to
consideristhe styleof musicyou ore ploying,Don't try to ploy o hip whole-tonelick
in the middle of o tro-
ditionolbluessolojustbecouseyou hoppen to be on your fovoritedominontchord.
Also,with thisideo,
foke core not to folselysignolo resolution
to onotherchord (A7 resolvingto D, for exomple),

@ Exampte57
Thefirstexompleiso nice littleswing/beboplinefor o stqtic Bb7.ltdemonstrotes
hin1ngot the whole-tone
for effect (secondbor)'Thelinethen flowsbock into o simpleBb7soundingideo in the
third bor to finishthe lick.

@ exampte58
Thenext exompleiso bosicwhole-tonesequence,but sincethe notureof it emphosizes
the 3rd ond b7th.
it workswell over o stoticA7.
@ Exampte59
Here'so hip litflelinegood for eithero stoticor functioning
AZ, lt combinesthe whole-tonewith o few
ougmented shopes.

@ Exampte60
only in o jozz-siyle
bluesgroove con you get owoy with o lick likethisnext exomple,
opening linefor C7, we switchto o whole-tonephrosein the stortingwith o btuesy
second bor.
UNIT| 6: The tboqtd - symmetricqlscqlesGeomefricplovoro
Theguitorfingerboordiso mogic ploce when it comes to symmetricolscoles,
Becousethe fingerboordis
loid out in itsown symmetricolform,it'so noturolbreedingploce for on
unlimitedomount of ideoswith thr
diminishedond whole-tonescoles'shortmelodiescon be inventedond moved
ond repeoted in ony num
ber of intervollicdirections,forminglong interestinglines,Visuolshopescon
olsobe explored.
As for os the whole-tonescole goes,it's importontto visuolizeond leornthe vorious
intervolsthot ore pres
ent withinthe scole'Whole-steps,mojor3rds,flot Sths,ougmented Sths,ond m7thscomprisethe whole-
tone scole' Belowiso fingerboorQgrophic showingthe intervolsbuiltfrom
the root in o whote-tonescole
beginningon A.

@ Exampte6tA
whot's interestingisthe foct thqt no motter whot note in the scoleyou stort
on, you con stillploy ony of
the intervolsup or down from thot note ond stillremoinin the whole-tonescole.(Don't
forget thot guitoris
need to moke the properodjustmentsto the intervolswhen usingthe 2nd (B)
stringond subsequenfty the
lsi (E)due to the tuningdifference,)

Example6l B: Wholefone tnterval Study

Here'so littleexercise/lick
to help you leornthe intervols,
A good gool isto leornthisexercisewith the
in exompre ooou.lbutorsoonrhe3rd,4rh,ondSrhstrins
i::::T"1'::tj::::Y:i]Pjll ill!9: ls
It con olsobe ployed on only two stringsfor o ffre
finger-stretching
woke-upexercise,
Anothercool coincidenceregordingthe whole-tone'sintervolsisthot you con stockthem. Forexomple,if
you ployed o stockof severolmojor3rd intervols,one on top of the other,the noteswould stillstoywithin
the scole.(l-hiswould octuollybe the ougmented orpeggiowe leornedeorlier,)lf we stockedb5intervols
or ougmentedSths,we would get the some result:oll noteswillstillbe in the scole.Whot would hoppen if
we stockedseverolmojor2nd intervols? We'd end up with the whole-tonescole,of course!

One very importontthing obout intervolsto remember-they ore music'sversionof meosurements ond ore
the some descendingos oscending,Theshopesstoyexoctlythe some,An ougmentedSthobove C, for
exomple,isGil,but on ougmentedSth below C isE.Or o mojor3rd obove A isC* whileo mojor3rd below
A isF,Onlythe b5intervol,which isthe obsolutemidpointof qn octove, producesthe some note either
obove or below o given tone. A bsthobove ond below D ore both Ab,Be sureyou understondthe work-
ingsof intervolsond how they loy on the fingerboord.

with the whole-tonescole?SHAPESI

\!hot does oll of thishove to do with improvising Becouseof the finger-
bcord'svisuolgeometry,guitorployerscon inventmelody lines with thisscolethot no other instrumentolist
v,ould ever thinkof,

Example6l C: Whole-ToneFingerboard
Lookqt the weird-looking fingerboordgrophic below, lt'sthe entirefingerboordshowingthe whole-tone
sccle on everyfret,everystring,Justlook of the numberof geometricshopesyou con spot rightowoy,
Lockof it in termsof chordsos well os single-noteideos,

A tot of good ployershove come up with uniqueideoslookingof the fingerboordthiswoy, They'vefound

unusuolhormonizedchord voicings,orpeggios,ond o weolth of single-noteideos.Tryit yourself,Justtoke o
pencilond circlesomeshopesor potterns,Thenploy them.

One potternthot jumped out ot me when studyingthiswhole-tonefingerboordisthe mony X shopes.I

workedout severollinesby ployingthe X'sond movingthem oroundthe fingerboord.
 56

P Exampte62A: Three$triWpne X Shape

Thenext " _string
X shope,

ne X Shope
Or how obout o four-string
u"

@ Exampte 63
Nextoresomeof my fovoritelinesusingthese
X shopes,Usingthe somesix-note
X shopeos Exompl
e 62A,
once reoch
lmfil:?nj,ffJ:H::#Tl:%ffi,m:ri#;;rx'o""'J',."Jojor3rds
vou rhe
rop
@ Exompte64
riis one ison eight-noteX shope
thot isolsorepeoted up mojor3rds.lt requireso trickypickingpottern,
3eginwith on upstrokeon the firstnote ond olternote-pickthe followingseven
notes.Thiscompletesone
s^ope' Beforemovingon, proctice thisfirsteight-notepottern severoltimesto get
the pickingdown,

@ Cxompte05
--s'to see if we con octuollyploy it, here'sq four-string
X-shopeline,lt's difficultto pick due to the ropid
s"'9 chongesond tough on the left hond becouseof the stretches,Butgo for it
onywoyl
Here'so quick story:I showedo similor
whole-tonegrophic fingerboordto o student
we were workingon whole-toneideos, of GITone doy when
Thestudent-tookone l6ok of tfre neck ond
diotelyployed the next exomplewithout soid, ..cooll,,ond imme-
missingo note, Hejustwotched the neck
wos omozed. diogrom ond ployed. I

P Exampre66: GeometricF whore-fone$uper-Lick

rhis|inei''i erboord.StortwiththeFtoGonthe
5th string'the Ebtof on the 4th string,ond
then the F to oon the lst itring.Thenmove
:ne some with the 5th' 3rd,ond 2nd up o fret qnd do
strings,Now move up onotherfret ond ploy
sequenceogoin' lt's o greot string-skipping the some l2-note
exercise,Youcon eitherleornit from the
or look bock ot the neck diogroni ond ptoy musicond tqb below
it visuolly,
sure'thisiso bit of on extremeexomple
of the kindsof ideosthot con be discoveredgeometricolly,
nope ii wiilinspireyou to come up with your but I
own inventions,
uNlr 17=Diminishedqnd whole-ToneLines
''e includedthislostsectionto showyou o few more of my fovoritediminishedqnd whole-tonelicksond
" cks'Mostcon be usedin ony situotion
thot collsfor o porticulorscole,from stoticchordsto ll-V-lprogresions,
Scmeore writtenwithoutchord symbolsbecousethey con be ployed over mony differentchords,

@ Example67

We'llkickthingsoff with o good C7 lineusingthe diminishedscole.Beginnlngwlth o bebop phrose,it winds

throughthe C dominontdiminishedscole before finishingup with o bluesriff.
. ?

@ Example68A:AscendingA WhobfLne pdtern Reversed

Thenexttwo whole-tonelickssoundsurprisingly cool for how simirlethey ore. I leornedthem from o stu-
dent who wos tryingto work out the whole-tonepottern but didn't understondthe fingerboorddiogrom I
showedhim' Going up the scole,he ployed the pottern reversedstortingwith the highestnote on every
string,lt soundedgreot! Thefollowinglinesore simplythe firstwhole-tonepottern (Exomple4lo) with the
noteson eoch stringployed in reverseorder,Check'em outl

Example 688: DescendingA whore-Tonepoltern Reversed

60

@ Example69
Nextiso good string-skipping whole-toneline usingougmented sth intervolsmovingup bSths, But,surpris-
ingly,thislineisolsoin the diminishedscoletoo, Ployit over A7, thinkingof it os q whole-tone,Ployit over
87,thinkingof it os diminished,Youcon olsoturn thislick into o trickychops-building exerciseby repeoting
it severoltimes,(Youget extrq credit for moving it up or down two fretsevery time for the whole-tone ond
three fretsfor the diminished.)

@ nxampte7O
As with ony scole,it's o common techniqueto odd possingor neighbortonesbetween scoletones.
Possing tonescon smoothout ond extend wholeitoneideos,Thesecretisto odd only o few to retointhe
soundof the scole,lf you odd too mony,things-mightstod te soundoverlychromotic,Thenext line iso
shortexompleof odding o few possingnotesto o whole-tor1e melody,lt soundsgreot over G7, but olsotry
it over Eb7,87,ond, whot the heck, over oll sixdominontsin thiswhole-tonekey!

G705)
@ Exampte7l
iromple 7l demonstrotesrhythmicsyncopotionodded to o diminishedscolephrose,Breokingup lineslike
-.rs one, especiollysequences,con odd o lot of musicolenergyqnd ottitude,Leornthe bosicsequence
frrst,which stortson the second note of the firstbor. lt oscendsto high Ebbefore reversingbock down to
rne finol bor,Thenfigureout the rhythms,Once you understondthem, you'llbe oble to odd the some syn-
copotion whereveryou wont in the sequence

@ Exampte72
ployed
I hod to throw in one of my secretoctove-displocedwhole-tonelines.lt'sjustthe notesof the scole
D, we go
up in order(storfingon C) but with certoinnotesployed on octove higher,once we hii the high
bock down the some woy, Thereore o few woysto go qbout pickingthisline.lt con be olternote-picked,
but stortwith on upstrokeon the low C, Another opprooch isto begin with two downstrokes on the C ond
one upstrokeon the high G$'
D, then one upstrokeon the high E,then one downstrokeon the F$,ond then
Thenrepeot:down, down, up, down, up, etc'
Thenext exompledemonstroteshow you con usethe previous
linein o ii-v-lprogression.
Followingthe
Dm7 melody in the firstbor,the octove-displocedwhoie-tone
beginson the low G, Thistime, offer the first
five notes ore ployed (up to Eb),the pottern is moved
up o whole step (two frets)ond ployeo ogoin begin-
ning on low A, Theline resolveson the 3rd of Cmoj7,

Dm7 ^1
vl
CmojT

@ Exampte74
Applyingthe some five-noteoctove-displocedsequence
to the diminishedscole,the next line isfor o ii_V_l
in Bb'After the cm7 bor,which iso nice jozzdescendingphrose,
the octove-displocedGbdiminished
beginswith the losttwo notesof the.firslbor (c to,D).
*Youcon olsothink of it os five-noteshopesployed
three timeswith the firststortingon c (secono+o--tbsi
note in bor l), the next on A (fourthnote of bor2),
ond the next on Ff (ninth note in bor 2), ;

Cm7

BbmojT
@ Exompte73
Finolly,here'so couple of whot you might coll speed licksfor both the whole-tone
ond diminishedscoles,
Thefirststortsos on oscendingwhole-toneorpeggiosequence,Butwhen it reqchesthe 2nd
string,we toke
o rightturn ond heqd up the neck,toking odvontoge of the mojor-3rdtuningbetween the G onO g
strings.
Youcon continueup the two stringsos long ond for os you wont, Also,try chongingthe rhythms
whileyol
ploy it, Move oll the notesto the right,plocing the firstnote (A) on the firstdownbeot
of bor 2, Or ploy the
lineos triplets,

A705)

@ Example76
Thediminished-speedversiontokesodvontoge of the mojor-6thtuning between the 4th ond 2nd strings
ond between the 3rd ond lst. Theline requireso lot of string-skipping
but mqkeso burningoscending(or
descending)diminishedlick.In o solo,you might only need to ploy os litfleos o singlebor or so to get the
point ocross,

E7(te)
FinqlNoles
Thonkyou for checkingoui thisexplorotion
of the diminishedond whole-tonescoles,
some ideosthot con benefityour ploying, I hope you.ve found
good ployer'choose o limitednumber Don't feel thot you mustconquer everythingin thisbook to be o
of potterns,lines,ond conceptsond
mosl importont'get them into your ploying work hord on them, Then,
os soonos possibre, Not mony proyers(incrudingme) con
on o doily bosisevery ideo in o ooot< use
such os thisone, However,do noi negrect
thesescoles'os well os other scoles reorningthe theoryof how
ond theirchords,work in music.And
ihe doy' put on some recordings your_fovorite when proctice time isdone for
of ployers.Listen.or"rrriv ror how
they usethese sounds.
il;#fi:,1""f;:".[:T:f"3:i[t5T:fiiliiiil[i;J,.5:#,1,,",n*"d
ideos
rhe
sooner
you
-Don Mock
 ,rllJ[llltli!

moc K
IIIIORE
SEC
REY
OTTHEtrl[S
REIS
In this book, legendaryguitaristand
educa_
tor Don Mock exposes the closely guarded
"secret"
soloing techniques of jizz and
rock giants, revealingeasy ways
to create
ultra-cool sounding lines and patterns
by
substituting simple diminished and
auo-
mented patterns over dominant 7th chord!.

Containing over 70 music examples,

lines, licks and patterns, this
book/CD
package approachesthe potentially
com_
plex topics of soloing and scale
substitu-
tion from a player's perspective, immedi_
ately presenting useful tines and patterns
that you can use now. All music
is writ_
t
ten in
and all music examplesare contained
on
the
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