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The Half Whole Diminished Scale - Intro/Shapes

Mike Salow 210 lessons

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Hello again! 

This month we'll be talking about the half whole diminished scale

I've been exploring this scale a little further as of late and have found a few new ideas I hadn't considered before. So I thought I'd share with you not only some licks using this scale, but I'll also give you tips on how and where to use it. 

The Half Whole Diminished scale is what we call a "symmetrical scale". 

Symmetry = "similarity, correspondence, or balance among systems or parts of a system"

We can clearly see this when we view the series of half steps and whole steps.

We'll work with A as our tonic. From A to A we have:

H = half step

W = whole step

H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W

As you can see, we have symmetry. This symmetry can lead to many simple ideas that can be spread over the fretboard. Please take time to learn these shapes and find some of your own creative ideas.

NOTE: When learning each scale shape, you will find that each shape exists again when you shift in minor 3rds.

Please pay close attention to the tab while working on each scale shape and we'll move on.

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