Tag: jazz-rock

How to use the Diminished Scale Pt 1


In this guitar lesson I am going over a scale that is widely used in the jazz and fusion circles and creates quite a distinctive sound. Actually…it is not a single scale, but two. The two scales are very similar and in my opinion this is something that can create some confusion.

These two diminished scales are built by alternating whole steps and half steps. The interval that starts the scale determines its name.

The Whole step/ Half-step alternates whole steps and half steps starting from a Whole Step

Example: C whole step/half step: C, D, D#, F, F#, G#, A, B

The Half-step/Whole step alternates whole steps and half steps starting from a Half Step

Example: C half step/whole step: C, Db, Eb, E, F#, G, A, Bb

The most common usage of these scales:

whole step/half step works on diminished chords g C whole/half on Cdim7 )

half step/whole step works on Dominant 7th altered chords (eg C half/whole on C7#9 )

To get some example phrases listen and transcribe great players like Michael Breker, Mike Stern, Scott Henderson, John Scofield among others.

For the ‘positions box shapes’  for guitar download the free ‘The Guitar kit’ in the freebies page

Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Jazz and blues Guitar Backing tracks

When learning songs, I always suggest using a simple metronome or, best of all, getting together with some other musicians, to keep yourself motivated and focused…but when you cannot do that, this is a great site that has a great variety of guitar backing tracks for you to learn some jazz-rock, fusion, jazz and blues tunes. You will find them all at guitarbt.com, I have selected a few links below of tunes that I am sure you’ll be happy to checkout. Of course don’t forget our very useful blues tracks!

Look at the end of the link for the guitarist’s name:

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Jimi%20Hendrix

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Allan%20Holdsworth

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Andy%20Timmons

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Blue%20Saraceno

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Django%20Reinhardt

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Eric%20Johnson

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Jeff%20Healey

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Jeff%20Beck

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Joe%20Satriani

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Larry%20Carlton

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Shawn%20Lane

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Steve%20Morse

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Steve%20Vai

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Tony%20Macalpine

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=Wes%20Montgomery

http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list&cat=The%20Shadows

In terms of quality of the tracks you must understand that most of these are user submitted, but I must say some are quite good. Have fun.