Can anyone give an overview of when and how (licks) dimished scales are applied in jazz, blues and rock? This has always been a mystery, yet I hear that it's a very effective way to add color.
Thanks,
Ed
Yeah, they can be effective.
The most obvious use is over a diminished chord - either of the two diminished scales (the WH and the HW patterns) will contain all of the chord tones.
They can also be very effective over dominant seventh chords. Consider G7:
G-B-D-F
The upper three notes describe a diminished triad (Bº), and extending this by another minor third gets you to Ab - for the Bº7.
Ab is a half step above G, so you can use a diminished scale with the root a half step above a seventh chord and you'll get three of the four chord tones. Having the b9 in the scale creates a great deal of disonance with the chord root, so you need to pay attention to what you're doing... but it can introduce some interesting ideas.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
I tend to use them for solo ideas on both major dominant seventh chords and 7b5 chords.
But in both instances I find they're best in small doses to add just a little punch to whatever it is you're playing, for example, if I have a phrase that starts on the 1 or 2 that I'm playing with as a solo idea, maybe I'll use the dim scale to walk up or down the neck to play the phrase in a new octave, ending on the b9 and sliding into the 1 or 2 to start the phrase again.
The "off" tones are really cool, and provide a something fun to play with, but most audiences will find it a little more dissonant than they probably are used to or quite comfortable with.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
