Diminished Scales and Harmony

Like the diminished chord, the diminished scale is symmetrical, an eight-note (octotonic)collection of alternating whole and half steps, or half and whole steps.21 As Stefan Koskastates, “The octotonic scale is a rich source of melodic and harmonic material. It containsall of the intervals, from minor 2nd up to major 7th. All of the tertian triads except for theaugmented triad can be extracted from this scale, as can four of the five common 7th-chord types (the major-7 th cannot). 22Diminished scales and patterns derived from them are now part of modern jazzharmonic vocabulary and are used primarily to complement altered dominant chords. Forexample, a half-whole diminished scale over a G7 chord will include most of thecommon extensions and alterations:  9, 11, and 13

Another common hybrid scale, thediminished-whole tone, is usually implied by the “alt” chord symbol. This scale includesa 9, both major and minor thirds (also referred to as a 9), and a 5. It starts out like ahalf-whole diminished scale and ends like a whole-tone scale. A diminished-whole tonescale in C would be C, D, E, E, G, A, B

Diminished Scales and Harmony