In this bass lesson, I’ll show you a cool and musical exercise for the Major Chord Scale using Diminished Chords.
This concept works whenever you are improvising on the bass and want to create more movement.
The notes of a Diminished Chord and what’s so cool about its sound
A Diminished Chord stacks notes that are a minor third apart.
For example, an F# Diminished Chord has these notes: F#, A, C, Eb
What’s cool about a Diminished Chord is that it wants to resolve.
Here’s how you can take the resolving tendency for a Diminished Chord and turn that into a musical exercise
Use Diminished Chords as an Approach Chord for a Major Scale.
In the key of G Major, your chords along the scale are: G Major 7, A Minor 7, B Minor 7, C Major 7, D Dominant 7, E Minor 7, F# Minor 7b5.
Practice ascending the Major Scale. Approach each chord from the Major Scale, with a Diminished Chord a half-step below:
- F# Diminished > G Major 7
- G# Diminished > A Minor 7
- A# Diminished > B Minor 7
- B Diminished > C Major 7
- C# Diminished > D Dominant 7
- D# Diminished > E Minor 7
- E# Diminished > F# Minor 7b5
Now do try the same thing, this time descending. Approach each chord from the Major Scale, with a Diminished Chord a half-step below:
- Ab Diminished > G Major 7
- G Diminished > F# Minor 7 b5
- F Diminished > E Minor 7
- Eb Diminished > D Dominant 7
- Db Diminished > C Major 7
- C Diminished > B Minor 7
- Bb Diminished > A Minor 7
How to practice using diminished sounds in your bass solos
Using the exercise you learned above, play arpeggios instead of chords.
For example, play:
- F# Diminished arpeggio moving to a G Major 7 arpeggio
- G# Diminished arpeggio moving to an A Minor 7 arpeggio
- A# Diminished arpeggio moving to a B Minor 7 arpeggio
- B Diminished arpeggio moving to a C Major 7 arpeggio
- C# Diminished arpeggio moving to a D Dominant 7 arpeggio
- D# Diminished arpeggio moving to an E Minor 7 arpeggio
- E# Diminished arpeggio moving to a F# Minor 7b5 arpeggio
Continue with the exercise and move descending:
- Ab Diminished arpeggio moving to a G Major 7 arpeggio
- G Diminished moving to a F# Minor 7 b5 arpeggio
- F Diminished moving to an E Minor 7 arpeggio
- Eb Diminished moving to a D Dominant 7 arpeggio
- Db Diminished moving to a C Major 7 arpeggio
- C Diminished moving to a B Minor 7 arpeggio
- Bb Diminished moving to an A Minor 7 arpeggio
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Barry Harris’ concepts with Diminished chords sound very musical and are easy to apply on the bass. Check out this DVD on Amazon: Barry Harris: The Jazz Master Class Series From NYU
