5 Week Study: How To Use The Half-Whole Diminished Scale (Week 2)

Welcome to week two of our five week study where we're looking at how to visualize and use the half-whole diminished scale in the context of dominant 7th chords. If you haven't read week 1 I suggest you do!

Why The Half-Whole?
This scale is a great way to introduce some tension into your improvisation and it works over dominant 7th chords, which are very common.

How?
Each week we'll take a different G7 chord voicing (moving through all 5 CAGED dominant 7th shapes) and look at how to apply the scale in each position relating it to the chord shape.

It's up to you to repeat this process in different keys.

Week 2 - G7 chord (D7 CAGED shape)
Play G7 at the 5th fret (D7 CAGED shape)
Raise the root note G and the chord becomes Abdim7 which contains b9th-5th-b7th-3rd of G7b9:

Play a G7 arpeggio (the notes of the chord played one at a time) and look at the tones it contains: G-B-D-F (Root-3rd-5th-b7th)

If we begin on the 3rd of the arpeggio (B) and ascend through the G7 chord tones we get the 5th and b7th, (D and F). Notice that B-D-F are all a minor 3rd interval apart. The next minor 3rd up is Ab, (the b9th of G7) which gives us a B diminished 7th arpeggio (B-D-F-Ab):

B diminished 7th can also be labelled D, F or Ab diminished 7th as it is a symmetrical chord, with the notes a minor 3rd apart. That's why when we raised the root of the G7 chord (in the D7 CAGED shape) we got Abdim7.

So let's play an Ab diminished 7th arpeggio in the CAGED D7 position:

If we begin on the b9 of the G7 chord (Ab) and put a half-step below each note in the diminished 7th arpeggio, we get the G half-whole diminished scale:

Listen to this scale over the G7 chord, hear where the tension notes are vs the chord tones:

G7 chord: G - B - D - F
Root-3rd-5th-b7th

G half-whole diminished scale:
G - Ab - A# - B - C# - D - E - F
Root - b2 - #9 - 3rd - #11 - 5th - 6th - b7th
/b9 /b5th /13th

Practice getting the half-whole diminished scale under your fingers in different keys over the dominant 7th chord (D7 CAGED) voicing.

Once you're comfortable with the D7 shape go back and work on connecting ideas between that and the E7 shape that we looked at last week

Here's a lick adding tension to G7 using the G half-whole diminished scale as it moves to a CMAJ7 chord, played out of the D7 CAGED position:

Experiment with one tone at a time from the scale and listen to the way it affects the G7 chord. Visualize where the tone is in relation to the CAGED chord shape.

Next week we'll continue our study with the next G7 chord voicing and corresponding G half-whole diminished scale pattern. Care to guess which one that'll be?

Last Weeks Email
5 Week Study: The Half-Whole Diminished Scale Week 1

Thanks for reading! Have comments or a question? Send me an email
Now go practice the half-whole dim scale and I'll see you next week.
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Rob Garland · Guitar Babylon · Los Angeles, CA 90019 · USA