Note the implications of improvisation on the
interchangeability of the dom b7 and the dim7 chords
in reference to the Diminished scale and the Half
Diminished scale - in order to break out of the "rut"
of the natural shapes and patterns that the guitar is
sometimes mistakeningly indigenous for:
e.g.
B7b9---> B-C-D-Eb-F-F#-G#-A-B (B Half-Dim. scale)
C Dim7---> C-D-Eb-F-F#-G#-A-B (C Dim. scale)
Notice that these are the same scales starting on the
I and bii degrees ...
...taking into account Dom7b9 is the same chord as
it's bii Diminished, e.g., B7b9 = C Dim7
Implications:
#1) B7b9 from the root plays B Half Dim scale, and
from the b9 (bii) it plays from the C Dim scale...
(with the C in the root of the chord, it plays really
well into the scale...)
#2) C Dim7 from the root plays the C Dim. scale, and
from the 7th it plays the B Half Dim. scale...
... For myself, I find it easier to apply this on the
fretboard in terms of the alterations that the
diminsihed and half diminished scales have on the
major scale:
e.g.
Instead of learning the patterns of the dim. and half
dim scales as they lay in shapes up and down the
fretboard (I never remember them and while soloing I
can't think that way, it sort of interupts the
flow..), instead I find it easier to think in terms of
how the major scale is altered. (For me, the major
scale is like the bedrock of scales, the first I
learned, and it has a certain foundational strength --
the relative minor is also based on it, and the modes,
etc., etc... learning the major scale is a large part
of it all...)
OK ... having said that, I find it easier to alter the
major scale of the I (whether dom. or dim) in
reference to the b9 and dim. scales as follows:
C Dim7---> C-D-Eb-F-F#-G#-A-B (C Dim. scale)
I think alterations on the Major I:
I - 2 - b3 - 4 - #4 - #5 - 6 - 7 for Dim scale
B7b9---> B-C-D-Eb-F-F#-G#-A-B (B Half-Dim. scale)
I think alterations on the Major I:
1 - b2 - b3 - 3 - #4 - 5 - 6 - b7
...for me, learing these applications as far as the
dim. and half dim. scales alter the major scale helps
me to get out of the "shape" rut that sometimmes the
guitar lends itself to bad habits inherent in the
nature of the matrix of the fretbboard ... for me,
thinking like this helps me to explore variations and
new ideas wherever on the fretboard I may find myself
at any moment in any song ...
John Amato
Music blows the dust off your soul...
Isa.55:11
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