The Dominant Diminished Scale For Guitar

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May 28, 2018

The dominant diminished scale is one of the most commonly used symmetrical scales in
jazz, and will add a new level of sophistication to your dominant 7th soloing lines and
phrases. In this jazz guitar lesson, you will learn how to build a dominant diminished scale,
how to play four fingerings for this scale on the fretboard, as well as study common licks
and a sample jazz blues solo that uses this scale in their construction.

The dominant diminished scale is used to solo over dominant 7th chords, or more specifically
7b9 chords.

The dominant diminished scale can be applied to the V7 chord in a 2-5-1 chord
progression, as well as the VI7b9 chord in any tune you are improvising on, which you will
often see in a rhythm changes and jazz blues progression.

What Is a Dominant Diminished Scale?

Before we take this scale to the fretboard, let’s take a look athow to build the dominant
diminished scale, as well as how it compares from an interval standpoint to other 7alt
scales, such as the Phrygian dominant and altered scales.

The dominant diminished scale is a symmetrical scale: there is a symmetry to the interval
construction of the scale (alternating half steps and whole steps). Because of its interval
construction, this scale is also referred to as the half-whole diminished scale.

Here is how the dominant diminished scale looks from both an interval standpoint, as well
as the intervals between each note in the scale so that you can visualize the half step (H)
– whole step (W) interval construction of this symmetrical scale.

Dominant Diminished 1 b9 #9 3 #11 5 13 b7 1

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 H W H W H W H W

As was mentioned earlier, you can use the dominant diminished scale to solo over 7th
chords, especially when you want to create a sense of tension over that chord. When
doing so, you will be highlighting the tension notes b9, #9, and #11 in your lines.

To compare this scale to other 7alt scale choices, here is a chart that lays out the
dominant diminished scale, altered scale, and Phrygian dominant scale, so you can easily
compare the intervals between these three scales.

Notice that the dominant diminished scale is the only one of the three that has a natural
13th interval, which ends up becoming the characteristic note of this scale when compared
to the other 7alt choices below.

G Dominant Diminished G Ab Bb B C# D E F

1 b9 #9 3 #11 5 13 b7

G Altered Dominant G Ab Bb B C# Eb F

1 b9 #9 3 #11 b13 b7

G Phrygian Dominant G Ab B C D Eb F

1 b9 3 11 5 b13 b7

As you can see, the dominant diminished scale is similar to other 7alt scale choices, but the
natural 13th interval allows it to sound distinct from other scales when applied to your
soloing lines and phrases.

Dominant Diminished scale Fingerings

Now that you know how to build the dominant diminished scale, and how to apply it to your
soloing phrases, you can learn four common fingerings for this scale as you take this
theoretical knowledge to the fretboard.

Each fingering is written out from a G root note, so make sure to take these scale shapes to
all 12 keys in your practicing in order to get a full understanding of how the dominant
diminished scale sits on the fretboard.

This first fingering has the root note on the 6th string, and runs up two octaves in position
from that starting note:

Listen & Play Along

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The next dominant diminished scale fingering features the root note on the 5th string,
working up two octaves in position from that starting note. Once you have these first two
shapes under your fingers, try putting on a G7b9 backing track and soloing over that chord
using these two Dom Dim Scale shapes to create your lines.

Listen & Play Along

You will now move on to a very common shifting shape for dominant diminished, starting
with the root note on the 6th string. When this scale is under your fingers, try playing up and
down the in-position 6th-string shape, followed by this shifting 6th-string shape, in order to
compare those two scale shapes on the fretboard.

Listen & Play Along

The last scale shape you will learn in this lesson is a shifting dominant diminished scale
with the root note on the 5th string. Again, once this shape is under your fingers, put on a
G7b9 backing track and solo using both the 6th and 5th-string shifting shapes as you
take these scales to the improvising side of your practice routine.

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Listen & Play Along

Dominant Diminished Scale Pattern

To help dig deeper into this important scale, this lesson will cover one of the most
commonly used dominant diminished scale patterns in jazz.

Learning to play this four-note pattern, and apply it to your minor key and jazz blues soloing
ideas, will allow you to continue your exploration and application of this jazzy sounding
scale in your jazz guitar studies.

To begin, here is the pattern applied to a D Dominant Diminished Scale.

Notice that the pattern is four notes long (Eb-D-Eb-F to begin), then it is repeated starting
on F#, then A and so on as you run up this two-octave scale shape.

Begin by memorizing this pattern along with a metronome, in this key and then in others as
you work on it further in the woodshed.

Once you have this pattern comfortably under your fingers, you’re ready toapply it to both
minor key ii V Is as well as a jazz blues chord progression.

Dominant Diminished Minor ii V I

The first place that you can try applying this pattern is over a minor key ii V I chord
progression, to outline the V7alt chord in bar two of this phrase.

Here is a sample lick to get you started with this application. After learning the lick in a
number of keys, try soloing over minor ii V Is or tunes with minor ii V Is, and apply the
dominant diminished scale and pattern as you solo over each V7alt chord in the
progression.

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Dominant Diminished Blues Lick
You can also apply this dominant diminished scale pattern when soloing over a jazz blues
chord progression.

Since there is a VI7b9 chord in bar 8 of a jazz blues (D7b9 in the key of F), you can use the
D7b9 dominant diminished scale to outline this chord in your jazz guitar solos.

Here is a sample lick that you can learn to help get you started. Try learning the lick as is,
then take it to other common keys as you continue to explore this idea further in the
practice room.

As you can see, it is only one pattern, but one that you can apply to several musical
situations.

Dominant Diminished Scale Licks

To help you take these scale fingerings from the technical side of your practice routine to
the improvisational side, here are 2 common dominant diminished scale licks that you
can work in 12 keys and add to your jazz guitar solos.

The first lick uses a G dominant diminished scale to outline the V7 chord in a short, 2-bar ii-
V-I chord progression in the key of C major.

Listen & Play Along

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The next lick in this lesson uses the dominant diminished scale to outline the G7 chord, V7,
in a long ii-V-I in the key of C major.

Listen & Play Along

After you have worked these three licks around the fretboard and practiced applying them
to improvisational settings, try writing three to five licks of your own that use the dominant
diminished scale.

Dominant Diminished Scale Sample Solo

The final item in this lesson is a sample jazz blues solo that uses the G dominant
diminished scale to solo over the VI7b9 chord in bars 8 and 11 of the tune.

After learning this sample solo, try improvising over a jazz blues progression and use the
dominant diminished scale to outline the VI7b9 chord when it comes around in bars 8 and
11 as you take this scale to the next level.

Listen & Play Along

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More Guitar Scale Lessons

1. Jazz Guitar Modes
2. 7 Essential Jazz Guitar Scales for Beginners
3. The Minor Blues Scale
4. The Major Blues Scale
5. The Bebop Scale
6. The Harmonic Minor Scale
7. The Melodic Minor Scale
8. The Diminished Scale
9. The Altered Scale
10. Exotic Guitar Scales
11. The Whole Tone Scale

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The Dominant Diminished Scale For Guitar was last modified: May 28th, 2018 by Matt
Warnock

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