The Diminished Scale Demystified 🎹

[Music] hey everybody my name is john prew and i want to share with you something that was a life-changing experience for me as a musician for a long time as a young jazz artist i was listening to a lot of my favorite piano players and i was listening to some kind of sound that they were using over the v chord and i couldn't quite figure it out until i learned about this scale that really unlocked a lot of the secrets of playing over a v chord and it's the diminished scale over dominant chords they're only three diminished scale which i thought was amazing too once you learn those three diminished scales you can play over any dominant chord it's a lot of fun and i'm really looking forward to get started so let's do it so typically when we think of the diminished scale we think of two different things we think of a diminished scale used over a dominant chord that starts with a half step first we think of a diminished scale used over a diminished chord with the whole step first so and then we alternate whole steps and half steps so those are the two kind of diminished scales that are used for this course we're going to be talking about the diminished scale used over dominant chords primarily so we're going to start talking about the first scale and this one starts on c and we're going to alternate half steps and whole steps so we're starting on c then we go up a half step d flat e flat e natural f sharp g a b flat c [Music] again we go back down we have the root minor 7 13 5 sharp 11 3 sharp 9 flat 9 root i oftentimes will look at this scale and i'll say what are the black notes so that i can get them under my fingers and that would be the c sharp the e flat the f sharp and the b flat you look at that chord that's kind of interesting too right it looks like a f sharp six chord that's kind of interesting observation and then you look at the white notes and we have a c we have an e we have a g and an a and that's it looks like a c6 chord so we have a c6 chord and we have a f sharp uh six chord and we put them together and we have this again root flat nine sharp nine three sharp eleven five thirteen flat 7 root back down 7 13 5 sharp 11 3 sharp 9 flat 9 root and this is a scale that can be used over c7 over e flat seven over f sharp seven and over a seven so that what this one scale can be used over all of those dominant chords e flat seven f sharp seven a seven and later we're gonna i'm gonna show you how to apply that to uh five one exercises so the great thing with the diminished scale is you hear these chord extensions in the scale so if we have a c7 and you're playing this diminished scale you hear oh that's a flat nine and that's a sharp nine well then we have the sharp 11 and we have the 13th and realizing that just by playing the half step whole step half step whole step we're playing all those chord extensions these altered kind of beautiful tones that i was hearing and that was really that aha moment for me and the fact that you can use this scale over four different chords was was mind-blowing and i think that's really cool and so i'm going to show you how to use the other scales in the same way the second scale is similar in that we are starting with a half step first but this time we're starting on d-flat so we have half step first so we have root flat nine then we alternate whole steps so we have whole step half step whole step half step whole step half step whole step and again if we're talking about the notes themselves we have the root minor 7 13 5 sharp 11 major third sharp 9 flat 9 root i think it's interesting too um when we say dominant chords look at the chord extensions of this scale and you'll see that we have both the flat nine and the sharp nine and we have the sharp 11 and we have the 13th so when you're looking at a chord symbol and you see d flat seven flat nine this is when you would use the diminished scale or you see a d flat seven sharp nine you can use this scale or if you see a d flat seven sharp eleven you can use this or a d flat 13 you can use this so any of those notes you can use this diminished scale so again where you can use this over d flat if you go up a minor third you can use the same scale on e go up another minor third to g7 same scale another minor third b flat same scale and i'm going to show you how you can apply that to one chord we'll go five one in a second so that's the second scale you just look at the black notes of that just to kind of get them under your fingers again so for the second scale we have a d flat a flat b flat so we only have three black notes there right all the other ones are the white notes so we have d e f g b so that's just kind of worth noting uh because it's also a visual thing besides reading the actual notes okay the third scale again starts on a half step up from c sharp so it starts on d and again alternates half steps whole step half step whole step half step whole step half step whole step and back down and it's the same uh way of naming them we have the root we have the flat 9 sharp 9 major 3rd sharp 11 5 13 minor 7 root and if we look at the black notes of this one we have an e flat we have an f sharp and an a flat so again only three black notes in this third scale the rest are white notes we have an uh d f a b and a c and so if we talk about which uh chords we can use over that we would have a d7 we have an f7 same scale we have an a flat and a b7 [Music] so and then the reason there are only three of these scales is that once we get to e flat we're repeating the same scale as we did on c so that's why there are only three because we've once we've played all three of these scales we've covered all of the dominant chords which is a very cool concept okay so we're going to start with the first scale and show how we can use this five one chord progression starting with c7 now c7 is five in the key of f so we're going to go from a c7 to an f major seven using the first diminished scale starting on c so we're going to start with c and go root flat 9 sharp 9 3 sharp 11 5 13 flat 7. so doing the scale up and then coming back down now when we get to the bottom of the scale here we're going to resolve it to the one chord and my left hand is playing root seven my right hand besides just playing the root of the scale i'm also playing the third of the f major chord so we have that so again it would be this we have ascending and then descending resolving to f major seven now you can do it ascending or descending uh typically i like to do it descending just because i'm going to this one chord so usually i'll do or if you have a 2 5 1 you can even start on the 2 chord and then go to the 5 one so just there's different applications for this scale but it's a great scale to use over the uh five one chord progression all right great so now we're going to put this to use by playing with a backing track i'm gonna play through the scale the first time with the track and then when i get to the f major seven we're gonna do that for two bars and then you're gonna do that same scale up and down so we're gonna do a little bit of question answer here we go [Music] now your turn here we go [Music] great nice job so now that you're familiar with the scale you're able to play it in time with the track we're going to do a little bit of improv trading so i'm going to play through this example one time you're going to go and play it a second time you're going to do a response i'm going to play it a third time i'm going to do something different and then you do your own thing the fourth time so we're kind of going back and forth with these four bar phrases you can either copy what i'm doing if you'd like or you can make something up on your own it's up to you [Music] your turn [Music] your turn [Music] great great job so the thing about the diminished scale which i love is that you can take something a short idea of the diminished scale let's say you start on the e flat and you go let's say you take four notes you can take that little example and you can move it up a minor third and then go up another minor third another minor third and then going back down you can do the same thing then go down a minor third down a minor third another minor third so there's some really cool patterns that you can come up with just by taking a short part of the diminished scale and then transposing it up a minor third it's really a cool thing okay great so now we're gonna move up a minor third to e flat seven and you already know the scale because it's the same scale as we did on c but it's starting on e flat same notes exactly but this time we're going from e flat e flat is five and the key of a flat so we're going from e flat seven to a flat seven so i think we're gonna try it with the track together so i'm gonna play through the scale with the track the first time and then you'll do it the second time here we go [Music] your turn [Music] great for additional practice with these scales you can go to piano with johnny.com and download the backing tracks okay great now we're moving up a minor third from e flat to f sharp seven and again f sharp is five in the key of b major seven and it's the same scale as we just used on the e flat diminished but we're starting on f sharp now so we have f sharp which then resolves to b major 7. we're going to do it the same way i'm gonna play the scale through once with the track and then you'll repeat after me here we go [Music] your turn [Music] great okay then we go up from f sharp a minor third and we're at a seven now a7 is five in the key of d major seven again same notes as we did over the f sharp diminish but we start on a so we have which then resolves to the d d major seven [Music] i'll play it through once with the track you'll repeat after me here we go [Music] your turn [Music] great one other thing i like to do as well and you can try this at home which kind of covers all of these scales within this particular family this first scale family sometimes i like to play the diminished scale starting on c and continue it up and in my left hand i just play up chords going up minor thirds and then back down so i might go like this and just keep playing that in your left hand so that you can just see that oh it's just the same scale and all of these chords pretty cool huh okay we've come to scale number two starting on d flat so again it's the same uh half step whole step idea going up back down [Music] and then to g flat major so we have d flat seven which is five of g flat major seven and again the right hand just as in the other scale we have root flat 9 sharp 9 3 sharp 11 5 13 minor 7 root and back down so let's practice it together i'm going to play the scale through once with the track and then you'll repeat after me let's try that together here we go your turn [Music] great all right cool now we're going to do a little bit of solo trading so i'm going to play uh four bar solo you play four bars i'll play four bars you play four bars again you can repeat after me if you'd like if you'd like to take some of those ideas or you can just come with your own idea using the diminished scale here we go [Music] your turn my turn your turn [Music] great so we're moving up from d flat to a minor third to e seven and again e seven is five in the key of a major and again it's the same notes as we used on the d-flat scale but now we start on e and resolve to a major 7. so i'll play with the track the first time you play it the second time here we go [Music] your turn [Music] great great job okay now we go up from e7 a minor third to g7 again g is five in the key of c major seven so same scale as we used on the e diminished same as g so we start on g and we go and resolve to c major seven so i'm going to play it the first time through and then you play it the second time here we go [Music] your turn [Music] one thing i noticed as well is after i did the i was doing this little comping thing in the left hand for those two bars so you're welcome to do that if you'd like i'm basically playing the note on top here and then underneath i'm playing this rhythms with the other notes so i go one and two three four one two and just a little comping pattern that you you can add in if you'd like so after we play the g7 diminished we go up a minor third and play b flat diminished so again b flat diminished same scale as g but now we started on b flat b flat is five in the key of e flat major seven so we have and resolve to e-flat major or you can move it up an octave as it's written here [Music] to e-flat major 7. i'll do it the first time you repeat after me here we go [Music] your turn [Music] great i know it's strange sometimes when you're playing these scales because even though it's the same scale sometimes starting on a new scale degree can be a little confusing but just remember it's the same exact note so if you ever are unsure of that just go back to the original scale and and play that it's the same same notes that you're playing just in minor thirds all right we've come to the last diminished scale the third diminished scale and this one starts on d and so we have again the root flat nine sharp nine three sharp eleven 5 13 minor 7 root and then back down now d7 is 5 in the key of g major 7 right and again if you're looking at the black notes in this particular diminished scale the black notes are e flat f sharp a flat the white notes are d f a b c so i'm going to play the scale through once and then you'll repeat it after me with the track here we go [Music] you try it [Music] great so now that you're familiar with the scale let's work on a little bit of improv some improv ideas i'm gonna play a improv idea for four bars you play for four bars i'll play for four bars you play for four bars and again you can repeat exactly what i'm doing if you can figure that out or you can just make up your own line using the diminished scale so let's try it together here we go i'll start [Music] your turn [Music] my turn [Music] your turn [Music] great awesome okay so now we're uh we went from d7 we go up a minor third to f7 again it's the same scale we used on d but we start on f now notice when we start on f though we're going there's two black notes right next to each other that's kind of good to just look at right now f is five in the key of b flat so we resolve to b flat again same notes as the scale you just played before so let's uh try it together with the track i'll play it first you repeat after me here we go [Music] your turn [Music] cool all right now we go up from f7 a minor third to a flat seven again same scale we just used on f but now we started on a flat again kind of noticing that right away we don't have any black notes after the a flat until we get to the e flat and again a flats five in the key of d flat d flat major so it's a flat seven to d flat major seven again i'll play it the first time you join me the second time here we go [Music] your turn [Music] great okay now we're going to go up to b7 a minor third up from a flat 7 to b7 b7 again is 5 in the key of e major 7 and it's the same scale as we just used on a flat but now we start it on b and again if you're looking at your hands we don't get to the black note until the e flat here and then we have the black notes there then we resolve to e major 7. so i will do it the first time and you repeat after me here we go let's try it [Music] your turn [Music] great so what i like to do with all these diminished scales and the more you practice them the more you'll get to know which scale goes with which chord but until you do one thing i like to do in my music at least when i was first learning these diminished scales is every dominant chord that i see that goes from a five to a one i would write a one a two or a three next to that uh dominant chord just so i could remind myself which scale that is that i'm using which of those three diminished scales is it the first one is it the second one or is it the third one and i just write a little number next to that and sometimes what you discover is you you know you might have a c7 and then you might have an a7 and you say wait a second they're a minor third apart that's the same scale [Music] pretty cool right so you start to see the patterns between the different chords so i'd recommend until you get really comfortable with the scales on your music if you just pencil in which number of the scale it is and refer back to that you'll you'll get these notes thank you so much it's been great talking about the diminished scale with you it was mind-blowing for me when i first discovered it and i hope it was for you too thanks a lot take care thanks for watching and if you enjoyed the lesson be sure to check out pianowithjohnny.com we have over 1 000 step-by-step lessons for all playing levels where you'll learn your favorite songs styles and how to improvise at the piano thanks for watching and i'll see you in the next one

Channel: Piano With Jonny

Views: 37,324

Keywords: jazz piano, the diminished scale, diminished theory, diminished scale lesson, diminished scale, jazz improvisation, barry harris, jazz piano tutorial, diminished chords, music theory, jonny may, john proulx, piano with jonny, whole diminished scale, half diminished scale, piano diminished scale, piano scales, jazz scales, jazz piano scales, scales for improv, piano improv, piano improvisation, jazz piano improvisation, how to improvise jazz, jazz chords piano

Id: nMmkqR9nHYs

Length: 26min 51sec (1611 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 22 2022