And in that case I will think of the scale as starting with a whole tone. I made a video, alongside my review, demonstrating how I initially set the bass up. Which makes it quite easy to play, as I said before, in many ways easier to play than a major scale. The idea is that you keep going, to find where all the notes are all over the fretboard. The left hand notes are played on the 3rd and 4th strings and the right hand notes on the 1st and 2nd. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers. Rather than going from C to F, I’m going from C to G, up a fifth rather than down a fifth. Diminished scales for bass lines that all successful bassists use. Like this. But whatever you play, I would start by making a bassline out of the root and 5ths. Required fields are marked *. If you run a major scale up to its octave you will notice no tritone intervals because its from the overtone series. I added that afterwards as I felt it needed some kind of recognisable melody. This Privacy Policy is maintained by the Free Privacy Policy Generator. The best way to demonstrate this is by playing a jazz blues, because the blues uses dominant 7th chords a lot. You can use any progression you want and any rhythm or style. Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. I don’t know what it is about this particular one, maybe there’s a problem or a fault with the truss rod. No matter what note you’ve just played, you always have the option to either go a 4th up or a 5th down. Only practice the 3rd and 4th fingers on your right hand if you want to. With each take I got gradually more used to playing along with the bassline I’d improvised. So the idea of playing in 12 keys is a bit redundant. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit. We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. In the video I’ve used the example of a Bb7 chord. If you want to bring a more jazz sound to your playing, using the diminished scale is a great way to do it. So, it’s worth practicing this until you get the feel where you want it. However, I feel like I can’t ever sell the bass. The take in the video is number five. Use the Diminished Scale to Play Jazz – Bass Practice Diary – 6th November 2018. However this week’s exercise has a much more simple concept and it’s also going the opposite way around the cycle. Company (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Agreement) refers to Johnny Ccox Music. The diminished chord isn't common in rock music, but is a chord bass players should know how to navigate. For the purposes of this exercise, all you need are two fingers on your right hand. The diminished scale is a great scale to use when creating your walking bass line or for soloing. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. On your bass a tritone is an interval of dissonance. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. So it’s fair to say it had experienced a few changes in atmosphere before I ever took it out the box. The left hand notes are your bassline, they are the foundation of the groove. But it still isn’t. This exercise uses the latter. The Diminished Scale is built upon two diminished seventh chords. The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. C# to Eb, then, is also a diminished third. Just like last week’s exercise, this one features the cycle of fifths (or circle of fifths). Meaning record an improvised bassline and then play over it. In many ways it’s even more simple than a major scale. Symmetrical scales are also called modes of limited transposition or fixed transposition, which sounds even more complicated. Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. These ideas should work on pretty much any bass guitar. Applying the Diminished Triad . Let’s face it, it’ll be a while before I get to jam with any other musicians. I’ve used a 4-string bass in the video to demonstrate that you can make full sounding chord voicings on just 4-strings. Like I said the theory gets deep but so interesting you just cant put it down. A diminished triad with a C root note could also be notated C o. So the pattern here goes C-F-Bb-Eb etc. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party’s site. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer. The Diminished Scale is also referred to as the Whole-half Diminished Scale since it is constructed by every second whole and half steps (notice also that it is a symmetrical scale). The F is hammered by the left hand while the A and Eb are hammered on by the right hand. Because it creates an interesting series of inside and outside notes when played on dominant chords. For the improvised solo parts, I did five complete takes. In this case Db. Cookies can be “Persistent” or “Session” Cookies. This exercise should be played entirely with the left hand and all of the notes are hammered on. I was just improvising bass grooves in 7/8 time signature. The diminished scale is a great scale to use when creating your walking bass line or for soloing. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. So I might as well jam alone. The bass sounds good and it plays well. This involves simultaneously hammering three different notes on three strings. The diminished scale harmony is where it gets all of its tension with tritones. All you have to do, is go around the cycle one note at a time. Alternatively, you can hammer the right hand notes in between the left hand notes. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. Root, major third, 5th and dominant 7th. I haven’t featured this Sire Marcus Miller M7 5-String fretless bass in a video since I first got it and reviewed it last year. In this Bass Bit I will walk you through another sequence of seconds – in this case major and minor seconds alternate. Also, playing lines using 4th and 5th intervals is very popular in modern jazz vocabulary, so this exercise will also help you to play those kind of lines. I was playing along with the little clave ostinato that you hear at the beginning. In the C Diminished Scale this would be C - Eb - Gb - A (Cdim7) and D - F - Ab - B (Ddim7). I’ve transcribed a chorus of blues solo that I improvised in which I was using both the diminished sounds and the more traditional blues sound of the blues scale. Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. Jazz music uses this tension over and over giving us some of our best jazz tunes today. as I played with my triads exercise last week. Often I will use the major third (D natural in this case) as a jumping off point. Here is a diminished scale starting on a Bb and beginning with a half tone. And yes, you could rename those guys to C to D or Db to Eb, which would then make them a major second.