How to actually USE the half step whole step (diminished) scale in the blues - Guitar Lesson ML072

In this MicroLesson, you'll learn how to use diminished chords and diminished scales when playing blues lead guitar.
To view the tablature for the intro composition, visit: www.activemelody.com/microles...

[@xxburn77xx]

there is not a single video that you upload that does not blow my mind. I'm amazed. No other teacher on KZbin can encourage my creative mind more than you do. Thank you!

[@tristanoleoni4285]

Finally! This is the first clear explanation of how to effectively use the diminished scale in the blues without getting lost in a master class in music theory. Excellent! You are a great teacher who explains complex things in a simple way.

[@hashmark13]

So I signed up for Active melody... gotta tell ya... I am NOT disappointed. I have learn so much from you. thank you

[@antonakis79ohyes]

Sounds good..! I already have too much on my plate but I just can't resist these microlessons, they are kind of a stepping stone for the bigger ones! Thanks for continuing with these, Brian, they are GOLD!

[@cautiousoptimist1926]

Fantastic video! You have really become an excellent teacher. So many people teach these scales and chords without providing any useful context. Thank you very much.

[@scottmagri6306]

This is one of the best lessons I have ever seen on KZbin. Mind blown, you made me see the physical and musical relationships on the fretboard. Thank you !

[@deltuckunder3966]

This was soooo helpful! I've been wanting someone to explain this to me in an understandable way for years!

[@jacobabraham9509]

I've watched Robben Ford, Josh Smith, and Paul David's explanations on this and this video it finally clicked with me. Thanks!

[@VitalBigras]

As a PREMIUM MEMBER, I can say that I am really satisfied with the extra videos and pdfs, backing tracks etc.

[@chadsmith5433]

Dude. Killer lesson. Opened up so many doors. You’re a great teacher. Thank you for what you do.

[@tommyguitar534]

FINALLY GOT IT THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I always got confused because 1 diminished chord can be more different diminished chords I never understood why it was so confusing to me, I am so happy I fully understand them now!! I will practise them now to perfect it

[@jimshunamon2512]

Nothing wrong with calling it a sharp one or one sharp diminished. It functions as a B7b9 which moves beautifully into the E9 chord. Doesn't really matter what anyone calls it as long as they know how to find it and your explanation is perfect. 👍

[@jbfox6386]

Just discovered you Brian, liked and subscribed. I’ve been studying and practicing diminished scale and working them into blues solos more by luck and intuition. You’ve perfectly expressed how to find those sweet spots! You are a natural born tutor, very clear and simple, cutting through the confusion left by other KZbinrs.

[@georgearuldoss]

Excellent lesson Brian. Thanks a lot!

[@Daytripper51]

You show.....and explain this to make it sound so easy! Always have! Thanks!

[@exxekhan]

I've been trying to grok diminished scales for awhile now. Although I understand the theory pretty well, I didn't get how to incorporate it into the blues. This lesson finally cleared it up for me. This and listening to Robben Ford. Liked and Subscribed!

[@therequestadors]

Awesome lesson Brian. You've helped me understand how to glue some tasty notes between the changes. Really appreciate it. Keep up the great work 👍

[@jacqueszins8876]

This is le clearest lesson i have ever heard about this topic thank you a lot !

[@Alexander-11.11.]

yes. i love the diminished scale. whole-half.. or half whole. i fooled around with it a lot, till i started to hear it. it´s kinda crazy stuff and sometimes i really had so much fun, with the tensions and releases, it offers. it opens up a lot new words in the language of music, if you got cought in some routine of playing.

[@steveo44]

Amazing tutorial. Best I've seen in this subject. Thankyou for taking the time

[@rcolang1]

Brian...Genius lesson...Roberto!!

[@Jeff_H_the_Guitarist]

Finally I’m beginning to get it! You’re good at causing that reaction.

[@GuitarJoLa]

I’d never dig into stuff like that if not for Actively Melody lessons. You make everything so approachable, Brian 🎵💕

[@Az_1987]

Unreal lesson. Thanks man

[@claytonhiggins9115]

Excellent. Thanks for thinking like a human.

[@christophercole8877]

Nice job!🎸

[@GuitarguyRichard56]

Not the jazz/blues I asked for but an excellent lesson. Great theory to know as you've used diminished chords often in your tunes.

[@johnwashburn3793]

Great stuff. Mind expanding!

[@TimRowell]

wow! what a perfect lesson! perfectly explained. thank you!

[@neilritson7445]

Brilliant! So simple, engaging. Thanks bro'

[@robertjones2857]

Dude you are awesome ! I finally understand how to use diminished chords and scales.I have taken lessons for years and asked questions but nobody could give me a satisfactory answer.. One instructor said to think of them as the "duct tape" of music. This is somewhat true but duct tape can be ugly and ineffective misapplied . Thanks for making the light bulb finally go on in my head.

[@civildiscourse6093]

So glad I signed up for the membership!

[@andyjales]

Amazing vídeo!!!!! Thanks Brian!!!

[@gtrjay55]

This helps a lot.Thanks for posting God bless stay safe Rock on 🙏😷🎶❗

[@geekwalker1]

Great teaching Sir

[@Keaneo]

Love this Brian. Lots to chew on here!

[@tboyz1]

Great explanation and practicle lesson it really helped my understanding, thank you 🙂

[@omarpervaiz]

Nicely done. Appreciated.

[@ivarvanderknaap1247]

Great! And relevant

[@PedroSilvaMusic]

Excellent 🤟🤠🤟

[@johncharal1698]

Great lesson, Brian. Keep hammering this concept and one day it's going to stick with me. Looks like you can't put this guitar down lately.

[@billn8557]

Love this video explaination! Not just for blues but any dim chord usage like jazz or chord subs using dim. I have a few questions concerning the dim scale and chords...but Im tired of joining online lessons that never pay off! I just finished my 3rd online teacher and got nowhere.😪

[@banjodadaswheel]

Awesome... Lets unravel the mystery of the Diminished scale in this months challenge 🙏🙏

[@joeldowdy404]

I love diminished chords (the ole flat 3rd and flat 5th sound) :)

[@toddandtom5004]

I believe what you’re doing is playing Locrian over the C7 cord, which is super imposing B major over C, while maintaining the root “C”. The half whole scale, starting from A is, a, b flat, b, c, e flat, e, f sharp f. Sounds great either way!

[@DallasBarr]

Sick intro bro!

[@markgoodwin5306]

It’s pretty cool that if you lower the root of any diminished chord, it’s then a dominant chord. Or if you bring any chord tone of diminished 7 down, it’s now an inversion of dominant 7.

[@oneeyemonster3262]

you can stack MAJ, minor, Dominant or dim....every b3 intervals using full dim H/W You can break it down..if you're not used to it , yet Dor b2, #4 AND Mix b2, #4 ( in a nutshell....b3 and/or maj3) Just vamp over each TONE CENTER in 1, 4, 5... E7.....A7......B7 Stuff you already know already. I personally play as if Im chasing chords..when I wing it ( you dont have too) I personally learn the dominant pentatonic...and have under my fingers for decade already. It still the same concept. You just have to target the maj3 on the B string it took me less than 6 months to memorize the 5 jig saw pattern for it..just like minor penta. Plus I was already used to play the maj3 as an option or passing note while over a minor chord. E min penta over the E chord... A min penta while over the A chord B min penta while over the B chord Plus I know these other modes from other scales too. Hence I DONT THINK...what mode Im going to use when I wing it. THEY ALL work over any dominant chord.... ( some over maj. min. dom or dim..such as Mix #2, #4) The FULL DIM H/W...is a sort of a CHEAT/HACKED. if you havnt learn all these different modes..or wanna. But it'll only makesense...if you learned them already.. lmao Mix #2 mix #4 mix b2 mix b6 Mix #2, #4 ( Hungarian MAJOR) mix b2, b6 Phrygian dominant mix b2, #4 phry b4 dor b4 loc b4 you could target the 3, 5, b7, b9.....arpeggio ( full diminished) useful stuff or jazzy or whatever Anyways...( from C MAJOR/ Amin G7 into C MAJOR E7 into A min G7..........Bb............Db...........E7 The........Bb............Db..................are those so call N6 chords or tritone sub of V Db...is tritone to G7 Bb ..is tritone to E7 Most people might just insert the Bb chord as MAJOR ( it's in millions of songs) You dont have to only use that.. Trying playing a simple A min Bb dim then E7 into A min or ............A min Bb min E7 into A min or pretend you play to Bb min/Db MAJ A min.....Db Maj Bb min Gb min..then E7 into A min The Gb min could be from lyd #2 of Bb harmonic min or lyd b3 of Db Harmonic MAJ or skip the Bb min ( I just use it as a REFERENCE) A min Db maj7 into Gb min then E7 A min A min Db dim Gb min then E7 A min or modulate more A min Db maj7 F min Then as F phrygian dominant ( F7) but pivot to mix #4 of C melodic min...to get you to C min F7 G7 into C min Ab min D dim E7 into A min....again You can play those N6 chords as ANY type of chords maj7 . dominant. min. aug or dim I personally use lyd #6. lyd #5, #6 lyd #2, #6 or Ion #6 as guides In a nutshell...I could stack anytype of chords...over the Bb or Db Ive also extended as possible inserted chords Db.......Eb........Gb.......Ab........Bb b2.......b3........b5.......b6.........b7.....CHORD degree of a MAJOR scale. You can A min...Bb7 into Eb min Gb MAJ G7 into C MAJOR A min Bb dim C7 into F min Db dim G7 into C MAJOR or Eb maj7 G7 into C Gb Maj7 G7 into C Ab maj7 G7 into C Bb maj7 G7 into C it's just to get you used to playing the 5 inserted chords as PRE DOMINANT. DONT over think it...they all SOUND DIFFERENT..it's suppose to. Maj, min. dominant or dim chords every b3....RIGHT ??? RIGHT You can also vamp it over the NATURAL min ( vi ) or MAJOR's TONIC A min Gb min C dim Eb min E7 into A MAJOR Then D dim B min F min E7 into A min...lol well...before E7 into A ...works too.lol 2, 4, b6, 7....chord degree overlap in A harmonic MAJOR ( ion b6 ) AND A harmonic min (Aeo, maj7) B dim...........D dim...........F dim............G# dim G7.................D dim/Bb....F dim/Db G# dim/E It'll also overlap in the C Harmonic MAJOR and C Harmonic min D, F, Ab, B

[@gianmarcocoronel3332]

Genius

[@geraldbrown2875]

Oh yea I like that!👍🎸🇨🇦

[@manuelpadiyafayas852]

Muy ecxelente traducir al español favorece a otros

[@marcinosos]

this is obviously one of ways of using diminished chords as a flat two (transition point). We can surely use it as a dominant chord (VII-I), or as a triton substitution

[@allenchief6351]

Exceptional lesson Brian. Really enjoyed. If I could suggest just one tweak would we not call this the whole step/half step instead of the other way around? I ask bc if you start on the c, you go up a whole tone first before a half tone.

[@israelcosta980]

When analyzing the modes of a scale, we finish into a bunch of "new scales" starting by a new note while preserving the scale structure. So, by its symmetric nature, the dominant-diminished can be seen as W-H-W-H-W-H... or H-W-H-W-H. In both cases we use the same skeleton but end up with completely different intervals. For example, let's see the triads and its extensions: E Half-Whole 1 3 5 or 1 b3 b5 or 1 b3 5 or 1 3 b5 (b9, #9, #11, ♮13, b7) E Whole-Half 1 b3 b5 or 1 b3 #5 (♮9, 11, #11, b13, 13, ♮7) Although the "skeleton" is the same, each one it's a completely different feel. The H-W is frequently used in dominant and diminished chords, and the W-H is more like a minorish-diminished context, like Em9(11), EmM7(13).

[@WstlR]

Klick!

[@polcat79]

Would love to see a video of him drunk and absolutely going balls out bonkers on one of his guitars. I just know it would be absolutely beyond legendary.

[@bigtone1010]

Rock on, you look like Eric Clapton today. Cheers

[@augustusbetucius2931]

Seems like putting the diminished chord on the same set of strings would make it sound a bit less jarring. The voice leading in using the diminished chord with the root on the 5th string, especially when going from the V chord down to the IV chord makes for a more fluid sound. Just one person's take.

[@emanuel_erol_germann]

Strong tobacco but very welcomed, thanks for simplifying the theory !

[@Troy1g]

You are saying this is Half step Whole step but the example given is Whole Half, hmm? Thanks great lesson.

[@straightshooter8662]

The way I look at it is your playing suspension notes 2,4,7 so you can literally play the diminished off of any one of them

[@richgarey6079]

I hate to do this and really just want to help. You refer to the half/whole scale but are really showing the whole/half scale. It sounds like semantics but as you know, they’re not the same. They’re both 8 note scales and, assuming the same root, share 4 notes but the other 4 are different. The half/whole is typically used over dominant 7 chords while the whole/half is used over diminished chords. Your videos are excellent but I’m concerned some might come away confused if they don’t realize what you’re saying and playing are different.

[@b.i.g.brothersinguitars249]

Too advance this time but will get there

[@kronk358]

Sounds like a steel top

[@toddshepard3592]

B# ?

[@activemelody]

= C

[@johnnyguitarpatino5652]

Why do you call it half whole step when you start off doing a whole step?

[@matsuda333]

Because he’s starting a whole step below the root. The second note is, where is the school starts.

[@JohnGalanek]

I’d love to find a video where they try to teach a simple concept and actually assume you know nothing. “Here’s how we’re doing this simple.. (need to know 1-7th chords for something).

[@activemelody]

If someone knows nothing, they shouldn’t be starting with a diminished scale. The 99.9% of people that want to learn how to play this would leave if I started with, “ok, this is a guitar… this is how you use the fret to play a note, this is how you play a chord…” 🤣

[@neilritson7445]

@@activemelody I've known about augmented and diminished chords since I got my first book on guitar but never found a use for them!! So- this scale is new to me and really it's such a great sound, so I listened all the way through! Thanks Brian! However, sadly you are totally wrong about where to start - it's the other way round. 99.9% of us in the wider world don't know theory. I've seen hundreds of videos like yours and not subscribed because though I've been fumbling with guitars since the 1970s I am, like most folk I know- and some are professional or semi-pro guitarists, pretty ignorant about 'theory'.It's very easy to get folk lost by a simple, small jump in explanation, (eg using a word that's different from what they have learned) to lose the learner. I've been teaching since 1980 and thats my experience even in University classes. Best wishes - carry on enlightening us!

[@jopberlin]

Youre playingthe Blues like a milkman who studied

[@mikegoldthwaite4331]

Why aren't you backing up an Eric Clapton, or one of his ilk {and that is the only question I'll ever ask you)? Have you not seen Good Will Hunting? Do you not owe us, your loyal students (friends?), to skip town and never hear from you again? Fear not leading, because speaking for me, I'll be following you anyway from a sufficient distance. Just make your introduction of me to Eric, when I catch up, a kindly one. Deal?

[@activemelody]

😂

[@johnbuell8035]

You’re actually playing the whole step/ half step, not the half step/whole step

[@inflatedear7131]

Too much talking, not enough playing.

[@sergeybogdanovich7019]

❤️🙏🎶🎼🎵✌️🎸🍀🇮🇱👌