ALTERED SCALE SOLOING

In this series we are looking at Altered scales that can be played over Dominant chords to create outside-inside tensions in our playing. This month, our Altered scale originates from the Diminished scale. This scale has a symmetrical construction that alternates half step, whole step, half step, and is known as the Dominant Diminished or simply the Half-Whole Diminished scale.

The symmetrical nature of the scale, with its interval pattern that repeats every three steps gives it a predictable layout on the fretboard. This makes it easy to compose licks that repeat and move in Minor 3rds (a distance of three frets), and is a technique