Half-Whole Diminished

The Half-Whole Diminished scale is a fairly recent addition to Western music. Though it appeared in earlier works, it didn’t become a common device until the late 18th century. It is an eight-note scale with a symmetrical, almost ‘mathematical’ construction that in many ways sets it apart from tonal music and functional harmony. Luckily, we don’t care too much about that in jazz – we are just concerned with whether it sounds good or not. In many different musical contexts the Diminished scale is an effective means of adding colour and tension.

The Half-Whole Diminished scale started to appear in jazz in the bebop era, but didn’t become common until the hardbop phase. Quartal harmony also became popular around this time – based on stacked 4ths rather than the stacked 3rds that form the basis of Western harmony. In jazz music, quartal harmony is mainly used