oNTHEcD :l$ rnacxs ss-sa

missingfour notes are A, C, D# and F#).

Apart from being used to playover

Diminished cadenza diminished chords, the diminished scale can

alsobe used in another way. Ifvieued from E.
F##. A# orC#. tbe G# diminished scale could
be seen as a half whole sequence, producing a
Shaun Baxterwraps up his series on the diminished scale thal is sdLable lor dominanrchords
scale by discusslng how to maintain yourvarious | (because iL has a major third. perfect fi ft h and
] dominant seventh). E half-whole scale:
patterns and licks via an unaccompanied solo. Y2 - 1 \h 1- \t - 1-Y2 1

FF##G+A#BC#D
t b2 +23 #4 5 6h7 1

I n jazz, fie dimi nished

scale gets used more in
pie-.wdtten, and are usuallyplayed this half-whole form than it does in the
in a'ftee'rhythmic style, often whole-half form, because dominant seventh :
r#s#s
(AM
"YOU
allowing displays of virtuosity.
For the recording ofthe GT
CD, I wanted to record something
that souDded spontaneous, soI
chords are more common than diminished
seventh chords.
This morth's solo uses the E
scale throughout (see diagram 3). For. ease
half-whole
of
-

MAKE hdr
HA,I-F*WIJOLtr
wentto Phil Hilbome's studio
merely armed with a few written
notes describing !'arious
AGalx..". elements that I wanted to include
in the piece: these were quite
vague, such as 'sweep-picked
arpeggios','symmetrical tapping
shapes' etc. This gave the solo a
'shape'yet left me unrestricted.
The beauty ofthis approach is
tlat, as soon as it has been
played, you've created a new
piece. It may be a bit rough
around the edges in places; but
you will have the fiIst draft of
something that can nowbe
refined both as a composition and
as a polished performance.
So 1br, we have seen how the
diminished scale is an eight-note
entity (classical musicians l ow
it as the octatonic scale). It is also
known as the whole-half scale,
because it is composed entirely of
consecutive tones and semitones:
m G+ diminished scale:
1/, - 1-
OOOaO Advanced G+ A+ C#DE
B
readin8, note t}lat F## will be shownas G
within the transc ption.
Because ttre performance was impmvised, I
had to take ttre recording home to transoibe it.
Like all unaccompalied performances, I was
able to slow down or speed up when I liked; as
well as compress or shetch a few bars herc or
there; however, it's important that the
tmnscriptiofl is readable, so I've tded to
produce something that reprcsents a sersible
working compromise between what was played
and what was intended.
Don't be put offby all the odd note
groupings. Unfortunatd, there's no avoiding
them. If I werc to transcribe one ofyour
unaccompanied improvisations, I'm sure that it
would be tuI] of odd note groupings as well;
however, each trme you approach a w tten
passa8e it wiil help iiyou take a srep back in
order to tryto underctand the underlying
mental concepts used during the original
performance. Basically, it usuallyboils down to
recognising the prevailiug shapes and patterns,
and thenjust thinking in terms ofvarious
destination points: when you do this, the
rh)'thms should take care of themselves.
See you ne1(t month. Il

ffiun 12b34b5b6bb771
To comprehend how this scale works, it's uselul
GETTHETONE
llj E
TEMPO: l08bpm
l
a oiminished xate mowhdge
to understand t]le s),mmet cal properties of
]7
Bleadth oftonality
the diminished chord.
CD:TRACKS53-54 !Zljna@mpaniedimrovisalion L
A diminished chord is the harmonic
IN GT 175, WE looked at an unaccompanied equivalent of a square, and comprises four
6ArN
solo (loown in music as a cadenza) using the equal inter/als (see diagram 1). This s),rl1metry 'r,tOOlE

whole-tone scale, Cadenzas are a great way of
erploring and maintaining your working
knowledge ofvarious scales, as well developing
your crcativity and technique in general. This
month, we're going to use a similar cadenza to
mnsolidate much ofour recent work on the
diminished scale.
Cadenzas can be either improvised or
means that B dimT has the same notes as
Ddim7, FdimT and c#dim7, and, following this
logic, it can be said that all the notes in Western
music can be covered byjust tlree diminished
seventh arpeggios (see diagram z).
So, an eight-note scale like G# diminished
can be seen as comprising just two
oftle three
four-note diminished seventh arpeggios (the
Because I preferto usea Fender Strat, also
employed a distortion pedal (in this case Phr
Hilborne! rignature model) because the pickupt
aie mu.h weakerthan humbuckers and so need a
litde helpio.reate ro.k distortion toner. Alsothe
sound was bathed an a bright plate reverb similar
to that u1pd byfdwdrdVan Halenon h.l fdmous
cadenz4 Eruptaon {from Van Halen li.

TBACI( REG0BD,Althoug hyou'll hear the diminished scale u$da lot injazz andjazz-rock - nobben tord'sjazzier lioks ofton have thein basis
in tho dlminishod scale - American gultarlst J0hn Scofiold uss8 it as much as aMody.lf you havon't heard any ofthe gr6at sco's music,l can
hoadlly recommend his albums StllllYarm, Blue ilatter and Loud,razz,

70G itaflbclmiques June 2010

 Dtllltilt$HrD c[[EilzA

B D F G: iBdn? Dd Fdm?edcld )
tE tll c D, F' A i.dm, Dlin, Fad{!AdF?l
., E G A: t.h17 EdnT cdmT dAbor

B t3D ol-.:-io DIAGRAM 3 E HALFWHOLE SCALE

G,-/ -\-B
Fi(/\/ I
I
tt>,f 1\
^)c
"l
Gl E\,/D
DI

lBars l-2lThe solo kicks offwith a pretty straiqhtforward blues/rock motifusing
notes of E half'whole that are in common with the pentatonic scale. ThroLrqhout the
solo,youwiilnoticethatikeepreturningtoanddevelopingtheoriginalthemelnan
attempt to gluethe various elements together.
JBars 3-41The f6t diminished line is based around notes ofthe tri lone lcale
(something thatwe havestudied before n Creative Ro.k),wh,ch is effe.rive ythe
GDTRACKS4
half-whole scalewith two notes nrissing (ausmented 9th and a major6th).
tBars 7-81 ln the se.ond ha fofthis line, the same four not€ motifi! shifted down in
intervah ofa minor third.
IBar 9lThi5 is the 6rst of many bars that feature the exploitation ofsymmetrical
frnqering,wherebythesamedigitalfingerinqpatternissimplyshiftedupordown
the quitar neck in intervals ofa minor third.

. = na ftee y) N.c.

---'--

'

-7

lune 2010 Guitat'Ib.chniques 71

 r

JDY
tBar lOl lateralshifts of sym metri.a I f ngerings here. This sequence shows
half-whole s.ale (as wellas the whole-halfscale) contains two different
how the ^4ore
diminishedseventharpeggio!:inthiscaseFdiminishedseventh(whichisthesame
asG*, Band Ddiminlshed seventh)and Ediminished seventh GameasG,A*and
diminished seventh).
CD TRACK 54
tBar 131so far, ea.h motif has been shifted either up or down in intervak ofa minor
third (three frets)j however,ln this line lt! shifted up in intervals ofa diminished fifth
(the same a two mlnor thirds).
C# lBars 14-1sl This section features a sweep-picked arpeggio motifshifted down in
minorthnds. Each motlf is based around a majortriad, but hasa major sixth note D

i----:----\

t 5+

3 15 16-16-15 13 15 1
2-14-15-15 14 1
14-13-11 1
2-10 12 1

72 GuitarTechniques June 2ol0

 Dtiiltilts1ltD cADtilzA ttAnl|lilBZ0ilt

I as the lowest note (thu! givlng u! E6,C#6, 4#6 and G6). With these shapes, I often
CDTRAGX54
abridged version ofthe original blues/ro.k rifffeatured in bars 5-7 - revisitinq a motif
play a minor reventh intervalat the base innead (q iving E7, C+7, At7 at'd G7). like this is common in improvisation-
lBar 161 Here, the top three notes ofthe previous four arpeqgio shapes are iinked tBars22'25llcouldntresistthissection,justsoyouhadsomethingtoplaythat
via rome ear catching slides. was overtlysymmetrical. Large stretches like this give llnes unusual butvery
IBars 18{9] This section alternates between some as.ending six-note motik and an ch a racteri5tic m usica I q ualities.

o ro 13 iov 10 .

lune 2010 Guita/Iechniques 73

 Lrbburr: t;HtAl lllt ltt,t;l(
lBars 251 Here again, ltied to echo an earller theme by playing a reversed version of thirdlntervals(threefretstret.hes)forawalk,culminarngintherepearFdtapping
rh-.i/ ror -o,if,hd fedLJred nbdr!l8and20 lick in bar30.
IBars23 30llnanefforttobringthingstoaclimax,lstartedtakingsomemtnor IBa.s30lFinally,thesoloconcludeswlththeobl gatoryhighEbend.Thisis D

12 'i2-1g-1s-12 1

-=

1 6 j,
"

74 GultarTbchniques lune 2010

l JfI l5r!l J:fr.I E.TIIE il
followed by a descendinq series ofmajor triad5 (asain, sh fted down i. -: :.:-
intervals), and a relatively svaightforward descenrthrough the E ha f !vho,€ i.;
(although there isa chromati. D+ passing note atthevery srar0. Note hoy/ even th.

tf: ---

t;('] I ;j llI ilt I llliI T

l/
I
I il Hr I[11 ll.'{H il I
I tl I iIt iir
ll' I

Subscribe to Guitar Techniques today

and save over SB2 offthe store price!

O Save over 400lo off

-'''-I,}
quarterly credit card.
I*I
the store price and pay just 529.62 by

O Thatt the equivalent of only 59.'l 1 per issue (usual price

51s.ee)!
O Struggle to find a copy of Guitar Techniques in stores? Then
OVERSEAS ORDERS
subscribe today and you'll never miss another issue - delivered lexcludihg Notth Ameri.a) Order onlihe
by Airmail, direct to your home or workplace. at: www myfavoutite m a q azin es.co.u k
Orca (+44) (0) 1604 251045
O Get your copy up to 3 week before they hit the stores.
TEnM5 ANO COND lTlON5: Th 6 .ff.r r5lo, n.$r N.,ih
Am.,i.an 5ubJirbe6 onl!. vou uri! ,--.eive 1l is!e5
ORDER ON Ll NE: www.imsnews.com/guitartechniques oeryrar Your sulLscr Fr.n !rir !t<rrIrihrnEnexi
alailab e !n'e nim!m jrhs.r pi on 1.rr j 12
(enter promotional code A01 9) monh5 far afy I
N1

C!r n! rhe f rsi 60 dayi r-o! are

'ne
riilnl5f.d na.vwry D.ae notfvus n^ritiiqa.d
OR CALL TOLL FREE on: 1 -800428-3003 (ref: a01 9) .Jeur !ref!.d you iora un ma!led iss!e5.

.rune 20l0 Guitar?echniques 75