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10DiminishedPatternsThatWillTransformYourNext
JazzSolo
PostedByEricOnApril8,2016@9:53amInChords,Concepts|CommentsDisabled

Whatcomestomindwhenyouheartheworddiminished?
Achord?Ascale?
Wait,isitwholestepsandhalfstepsortheotherwayaround?
Ifyourelikemostplayers,thediminishedsoundoftencreatesmorequestionsthananswers
ButitsasoundthatthegreatestplayersfromJohnColtranetoMichaelBreckerandbeyond
haveusedtoaddharmoniccomplexityandmelodicinteresttotheirsolos.
Anditsonethatyoucanuseinyoursolosaswellifyouhavetheknowhow.
Yousee,thepremiseofadiminishedchordorpatternissimple,butwhenyoustartapplying
thissoundtoyoursolos,thedetailscangetcomplexveryquickly.
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Andthisisexactlywhatweregoingtolookattoday

Stackingminorthirds
Beforewestartdiggingintothesediminishedpatterns,youneedtostartwithan
understandingthestructureofthediminishedchord.
Andluckilyitsprettystraightforward,afullydiminishedchordissimplyastackofminor
3rds

Becausetheconstructionofthesechordsissymmetrical,thereareonly3diminished
options:astackofminor3rdsfromC,fromC#,andfromD.Thatsitthepatternjust
repeatsitself.
Themostcommonwayyoullusethissoundinyoursolosisoverdominantchords.Applying
thisdiminishedstructureoveraV7soundisaneasywaytoaccessthealterednotesofa
dominantchordinalogicalway.
Andagain,sincetheconstructionofthestructureissymmetricalyoucanapplythissoundto
anydominantchordbuiltfromtherelatedchordtones:(C7,Eb7,F#7,A7)

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WhicheverV7chordyouchoosetoapplyitto,youllalwayshighlighttheroot,#9,#11,and
13ofthatdominantchord.Forexample,ifyouplaythatF#fullydiminishedoveraC7

youllgetthe#11,13,rootand#9.
Startbybeingabletovisualizethisstructurefromanystartingnote,(rememberthereare
only3options).Keepinmindthateveryexamplethatwellshowbelowisbuiltoffofthis
basicstructure
Butwaitwhynotjustthinkofadiminishedscale??
Becauseascaleisjustoneoptionforaccessingadiminishedsoundinyoursolos.And
thinkingofonlyonescalecanputyouinabox.However,bythinkingofthediminishedchord
structureasawhole,youopenupmanyotherpossibilities(thatcanincludescalesandmuch
more).
Andthiswillbecomeapparentwhenyoustudyattheexamplesbelow

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WevesearchedthroughscoresoffamoussolosfromColtranetoBrecker,HerbieHancock
andbeyondtofindusefulexamplesofthediminishedsoundthatyoucanuseinyourown
solos.
Letstakealookatthe10diminishedpatternsthatwilltransformyoursolos

I.JohnColtraneandthediminishedpattern
JohnColtraneisknownforhisindepthstudyofscalesandmusicalrelationships.FromGiant
Stepstohislatequartet,hewasconstantlysearchingfornewwaystonavigatethefamiliar
harmoniesandprogressionsofthejazzrepertoire.
Andoneoftheseavenueswastheminorthirdrelationshipofthediminishedsound
ProbablythemostwellknowndiminishedpatterncomesfromhissoloonMomentsNotice.
OveraBbpedalheplaysthefollowingline:

TwomonthsafterrecordingtheBlueTrainsession,Coltranerecordedaliveperfomanceat
CarnegieHallwithTheloniousMonk.InhissolooverthetuneEpistrophyyoucanhearthe
samediminishedpatterninaction:

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At1:46inthevideoaboveheplaysthefollowingline:

Inbothsolos,Coltraneisusingthesamediminishedconceptandthisisthefirstdiminished
patternforyoutoknow:

Hereheplaysawholestepbeloweachdiminishedchordtoneandalternatesdirection.
Takeawaythewholestepsandyoureleftwiththeskeletonofthediminishedchordtones:

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Hereswhatyoushouldpractice
Startbylearningthepatternononediminishedstructure(ex.C)
Thenapplythispatterntoadominantchord(ex.C7)
Nextapplythispatterntorelateddominantchords(forC7:Eb7,F#7,andA7)
Practicepatternonall3diminishedchords(C,C#,andD)

II.BuildingonTranesconcept
OneofthemostnotableplayerstofollowinTranesfootstepswasMichaelBrecker.
Throughouthismanyrecordingsyoucanheartheuseofuniqueandsophisticatedmusical
patterns.
Andonedevicethatheoftenemployedwasthediminishedpattern.Takealistentothe
openingofMyOneandOnlyLove:

Atabout0:12inthevideoBreckerplaysthefollowingline:

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Thisisapatternthatheoftenusedinhissolos,checkouthissoloonPeep.Herehetakesthe
Coltranepatternfromaboveandsubstitutesadescending4thintothemix,insteadofthe
descendingwholestep:

(Youcanalsothinkofthisasadescending1stinversiontriad,butwellgettothatlater)
Anotherplayertoexplorethepossibilitiesofthediminishedstructureoverdominantsounds
wasthegreatMulgrewMiller.ListenthislinefromhissoloonYouandtheNightandthe
Music:

Inthispattern,likeBrecker,healsoutilizesdescending4ths.Noticehowhealternatesthe
directionoftheintervalwithinthelineandendsbyshiftingthepatternintoanewkey.
Startbypracticingadescending4thfromeachdiminishedchordtone:

Afteryouingrainthisdescendingpatterninthe3keysvariationsofthediminished
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structure,explorechangingdirectionandalternatingbetweenkeysasMulgrewdoesinhis
line.

III.Creatingtriadicstructuresfromthediminishedtones
Oneconceptthatmanyplayersusetoimplyadiminishedsoundistothinkofthediminished
chordasfourseparatemajortriads
Startwiththediminishedstructurestackedinminor3rdsandbuildamajortriadoffof
eachnotelikethis:

Tobesuccessfulwiththisapproachhowever,youhavetobeabletoimmediatelythinkofeach
triad,sospendsometimevisualizingandingrainingthefourtriadsforeachdiminished
structure.
OneplayerthatutilizesthissoundinhissolosisMulgrewMiller.Checkouthowheemploys
thismajortriadconceptinhissolofromHandInHand:

OveraBb7soundheisimplyingaBbtriad,aGtriad,andanEtriad.Notehowheinverts
thetriadsandconnectsthembyhalfstepinamelodicway.
MichaelBreckeralsousesthistriadicconceptinhissolosaswell.Letstakeanotherlookathis
soloonMyOneandOnlyLove.:

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Inthislinehesimplyingapatternoffirstinversiontriads(C,A,F#,Eb)butleavingoutthe
5thaminor6thjumpfrom3rdtoroot.Startbypracticingapatternoffirstinversion
triadsoneachdiminishedchordtones.

Thelargerintervalsheusesintheoriginallineareagreatwaytocreatemelodicinterestand
avoidsoundingmechanicalwhenusingapattern.
AnotherBreckerexamplecomesfromhissoloonElNino:

InthispatternheutilizesthediminishedsoundoveraC7chordthatresolvestoF7.Lets
takeacloserlookatthisline.BelowyoucanseehowheisusingadescendingCtriad,A
triad,andsoon:

Heapproacheseachdescendingtriadbyaminorthirdcombiningtheminor3rdrelationship
ofthediminishedchordwiththeconceptoftherelatedmajortriads.
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Hereshowyoucanpracticeatriadicapproachtothediminishedsound:
Visualizeeachdiminishedchordtoneasatriad
Practiceascendinganddescendingwitheachtriad(startonroot,3rd,5th)
Practiceeachtriadindifferentinversionsanddirections
Useanapproachnotetoeachtriad
Practiceconnectingthetriadsandalternatingbetweentriads

IV.Usingthediminishedscale
Themostcommonwaythatmanyplayersaccessthediminishedsound,andtheonethatyou
findinschools,isthroughascalenamelythediminishedscale:

Itsaneightnoteoroctatonicscalethatalternatesbetweenhalfstepsandwholesteps.
Somealsorefertothisasthedoublediminishedscalebecauseitcanbeconceptualizedas
alternatingbetweentwodiminishedarpeggios(C,Eb,F#,AandC#,E,G,Bb).
itscomplicationsmakeupitsbestqualitythepotentialforgivingyoursoloan
outsidesound.Becausethisscalebreakstheboundaries,itcancreatealotof
harmonicpropulsionindominantcontexts.Likeachromaticscale,itsambiguous,
butunlikethechromaticscaleitdemandsresolution.~PatMetheney(from
DiminishedCapacity)
Alongwithatriadicorchordtoneapproachtothediminishedsound,manygreatplayershave
alsoappliedthisscaletotheirsolos.IfwegobacktotheearlierColtranelinefrom
Epistrophy,youllnoticethatheendsthelinewiththisdiminishedscale:

AnothernotableimproviserthatusedthisscaleinamelodicwayisHerbieHancock.Check
outthislinefromhissoloonThereisnoGreaterLoveandnoticehowheutilizesthe
diminishedscaleoveraC7chord:

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NowcheckoutHerbiessoloonFreedomJazzDance.Listentothewayhecreativelyusesthe
diminishedscaletocreatemelodies:

At5:10inthevideoyoucanhearHerbieplaythefollowingline:

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Notehowhedoesntjustusethescalenotefornote,butinsteadcraftsmelodiclinesthat
createrhythmicandharmonicinterest.Hereshowtopracticethis:
Masterthethreevariationsofthediminishedscale(C,C#,D)
Explorescalepatternexercises(useHerbieslinesasastartingpoint)
ApplythisscaletoV7soundsinyoursolos

V.KennyKirklandandthediminishedsound
AnotherplayertoconsistentlyusediminishedpatternsincreativewayswasthegreatKenny
Kirkland.
ListentothisexcerptfromhissoloonthetuneBlackNile:

Inthisline,KirklandisusingtheinverseoftheColtranepatternmovingawholestepup
fromeachdiminishedchordtone.Youcanalsoconceptualizethispatternasderivedfromthe
wholehalfdiminishedscale:

However,thefamousKennyKirklanddiminishedlineisalittlemorecomplex.Listento
thisliveclipofhimplayingattheKeystoneCorner.Atabout10secondsinyoucanhearthis
diminishedpattern:

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HeresanotherexampleofthesamepatternthatsabitsloweroveraminoriiV7onthetune
BlackNile:

Hereisthepatternextended

Takealookathowheusesacombinationofthediminishedstructure,thediminishedscale,
andthefirstinversiontriad.Takethislineapartpiecebypieceandworkitintoyourapproach
todominantchords.

VI.ChickCoreaonSpain
FinallywellexploretwowaysthatChickCoreautilizesdiminishedpatternsinhissolos
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LetsstartbylisteningtohissoloonSpain.Asyoulisten,keepyourearsopenforthewayhe
utilizesdiminishedpatternsoverdominantsounds:

At5:34inthevideo,ChickplaysthislineovertheF#7chord:

HereChickisusingthefirstinversiontriadsthatwetalkedaboutearlier,emphasizingthem
withachromaticapproachnote.
Lateroninhissolo,heplaysthefollowinglineoveranF#7suschord:

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Theresalotgoingoninthislinebutbasedonwhatwevecoveredsofaryoushouldbeable
topickoutsomeofthediminishedconceptsatwork.
StartbybreakingdownthelineintopiecesandfigureoutwhatindividualtechniquesChickis
usingtoaccessthedifferentvariationsofthediminishedsound.

Ready,set,go
Sothereyouhaveit
10diminishedpatternsandalifetimeofwork!
Butrememberyoudonthavetodoeverythingatonce.Startbyvisualizingandingraining
theminorthirdrelationshipofthediminishedchordtonesineverykey(thereareonly3).
Thenpickoneofthe10diminishedpatternsandtakeitintothepracticeroomforaweek.
Afteryoufeelconfidentwithit,startapplyingittothedominantchordsinyoursolos.
Keepinmindthatthesediminishedpatternscansoundcontrivedoroutofplacewhenplayed
notefornoteorforcedintoasolo.
Aimtoapplythesepatternsinamusicalway.Youdontwanttosoundlikearobotwhen
youimprovise.Thesediminishedoptions,likeanyotherjazzlanguagethatyoulearn,arejust
moretoolsforyoutocreateyoursound.

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