How Cory Henry uses the diminished scale for jazz/fusion improvisation

Please watch video above for a deeper analysis

Hi Guys,

Today we have a quick look at how Cory Henry employs the diminished scale to good effect for an original and unique sound.

Firstly we will take the whole step half step diminished scale starting on the note C

diminished- scale- Cory- Henry — Whole step half step diminished scale starting on the note C

From this scale there are 4 “Dominant” Chords that move in minor 3rds:

4-Dominant-chords-diminished=scale — 4 Dominant Chords of the Diminished Scale

These could also be Dom7#9

Dom7#9-chords-diminished-scale — 4 Dom7#9 chords from diminished scale

These could also be Dom7[#9]b5 Chords

Each of these chords can also be a, minor 7th, minor7b5 and a diminished 7th chord/arpeggio

Example for the chord D:

D Dominant 7th

Dom7-arpeggio-diminished-scale — D7 Dominant Arpeggio in the diminished scale

D minor 7th

minor 7th-arpeggio- diminished-scale — D minor 7th arpeggio in the diminished scale

D minor7b5

minor 7b5-arpeggio- diminished-scale — D minor7b5 arpeggio in the diminished scale

D diminished 7th arpeggio

diminished 7th-arpeggio-diminished- scale — D diminished 7th arpeggio in the diminished scale

All 4 of the above arpeggios/patterns apply to F Ab and B also.

Remember that these Major chords can now also become minor as in the example below:

diminished-scale-harmony-major-minor-triads — Major becomes minor with the diminished scale

Okay, here is the key to Cory Henry’s improvisational approach!

He employs inversion of the “Triads” of these 4 Dominant chords in Major, minor, minor7b5 and diminished 7ths.

Triads-diminished-scale-inversions — “Triads” of 4 Dominant of the diminished scale in Major, minor, minor7b5 and diminished 7ths and inversions

He exploits this further by employing a “Slash” chord style harmonic approach:

slash-chord-Cory-Henry-approach — “Slash chord” Cory Henry diminished scale improvising approach

Another concept with which to stretch the harmony is to join the triads together over a dominant chord: [Maj, min, min7b5, dim]

triads-diminished-scale-Cory-Henry — Cory Henry style Joining “Triads ” of the diminished scale for Dominant improvisation

Here is a harmonisation of the diminished scale: Notice that the diminished scale is present in all 4 lines: Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass

Cory-Henry-diminished-chord-scale harmonised-SATB — Cory Henry diminished scale harmonised with the scale in all Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass

Lastly, a nice little sequence:

Cory-Henry-Diminished-scale-chord sequence — Cory Henry Diminished scale chord sequence

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Author: Clifford Martin Musical Artist: Guitar Gti

Modern Music Theory

Clifford Martin is a trained classical musician and composer. His 1st study being piano and composition and a deep study into the meticulous world of modern music theory. He also studied jazz piano and jazz drums privately. Clifford later came back to the guitar and studied in the jazz fusion style of John McLaughlin and Al di Meola. It was at this point that he put all of his years of learning together into one musical form This website is a sort of cataloging of ideas and musical concepts for exploitation and development in the arts of musical composition and improvisation. What started out as a jazz improvisation site has grown into a full blown, harmony, timbre, pitch and rhythm library. Peace, Enjoy!