Half Diminished Chords - This is how to use Quartal Arpeggios

[@JensLarsen]

Do you have a favourite idea for a half diminished or m7b5 chord? Leave a comment! 🙂

[@hubertvancalenbergh9022]

Play major pentatonic from the b6.

[@JensLarsen]

That's a good one, though you miss the b5 a bit or not?

[@thunderrosa2258]

Dm6 pentatonic 😊 or a triad pair like Bdim + Amaj for Bm7b5

[@scottd291]

I am very boring and play the Locrian scale or the the Half-Diminished arpeggio. So this is a big help Jens.

[@hubertvancalenbergh9022]

One could try and squeeze it in, but then the pentatonic statement loses some of its power imho. I would simply leave the b5 to the piano.

[@olymoon2008]

You videos are always a call for practical intelligence. Thank you.!!!

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! That's a huge compliment! I hope you have fun with the arpeggios! 👍🙂

[@tomcripps7229]

Thanks Jens. This gives me more insight into the song Beautiful Love which I've been working on for years.

[@JensLarsen]

Ah Yes, it is even in the right key! 🙂 glad you can put it to use! 👍

[@paulstein5196]

Nice idea using 1235 patterns. On the ii chord ( e half diminished in your example) play a major 1235 starting a whole step below E half dim chord, which outlines a Dmajor 1235, followed by a Gminor (minor third above the E half dim) giving a minor sounding 1235. On the v chord( A alt) play the 1235 starting a major third below the root of the A alt, which gives a major sounding 1235 starting on F. Follow this with a 1235 starting 1/2 step above the A , giving a Bb minor sounding 1235. No need for passing notes as there are 8 notes per bar, and there are many variations on this eg 5321 followed by 1235 etc. Also nice mix of major and minor within a bar. All notes are drawn from the 2 melodic minors, G(for the E half dim) and Bb (for the A alt) . Thanks for inspiring ideas, much appreciated Jens.

[@JensLarsen]

Those Coltrane patterns can indeed make for nice melodies! 🙂

[@sylwestersosniak220]

Thank you !

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you sylwester sosniak I am glad you found it useful! 👍

[@Shuzies]

Cool....nice to add to my chops....

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Ron! I really like these sounds (but then again I am always fond of quartal arps...)

[@AshishGershom]

Superb I love it..

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you very much 🙂

[@PB_Chill]

I get stuck here reharmonizing or putting in fills. I only have few tactics for the m7b5, this helps a bunch.

[@JensLarsen]

That's great Paul! So I should think about doing more of these?

[@PB_Chill]

Sure, I think simple things taken a step further, like replacing m7 with m6 or using m6 arpeggios are common but not that it allows the use the Mel. Mi. scale and not the Har. Mi scale for a fill or run.

[@JensLarsen]

I think for me it is often more about finding ways to play the notes that are already there so that it sounds interesting. That is also what I am doing in this video. Having more scale choices mostly doesn't really add too much to the mix because you can't use the new notes on the chord anyway half the time. Don't know if that makes sense :)

[@sylwestersosniak220]

thank you

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@anthonydemitre9392]

a lot of cool stuff in the minor 2 5 1's! are you doing any more on this subject? Thank's

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Anthony! I might. It is a good topic I guess 🙂

[@anthonydemitre9392]

You guess!

[@goldsmithstrings6842]

Awesome stuff as usual jens! I'm thinking locrian natural 6/ dorian sharp 4 might work with it? Am I right?

[@JensLarsen]

Well yes, Harmonic minor is an option, though Dorian #4 is not so nice since it also has the perfect 5th. In general I would not focus too much on scales where the chord is found (It is in diminished and augmented as well) and try to look at what works in the context. That will make it a lot easier to get a musical end result when you improvise on it 🙂

[@goldsmithstrings6842]

Sweet! Thanks Jens!

[@LarrySiden]

How would you treat the B section of Gloria's Step with it's series of half-dim chords? I struggle with how to make phrases over them.

[@JensLarsen]

I don't actually play that tune. I think the best thing is to just play the chords as they are. You can of course make them into a row of chords that make more sense: Eø A7alt Dø G7alt C7alt but it is still placed a bit odd in the form if you do so.

[@stanp4888]

I subscribed. How do I find the site????

[@JensLarsen]

You signed up for Patreon right? I already added you to the Facebook group. Are you looking for this PDF?

[@sylwestersosniak220]

Thank you !

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you sylwester sosniak! 🙂