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Diminished Possibilities: Part #1 by Francesco Artusato

Welcome to my third column/lesson. This time I’d like to talk a little bit about diminished scales/arpeggios with their possible application solos. Knowing how to use a diminished “idea” represents a very powerful tool to create moments of musical tension.

A diminished/octatonic scale is a symmetrical scale (whose intervallic relationship is symmetrical) composed of 8 notes. There are 2 modes of a given diminished/octatonic set: whole/half/whole/half and so on, or half/whole/half/whole and so on. It’s a very easy scale to use on an instrument like the guitar, because even though there are 8 notes in it, there are only two positions to learn on the neck of the guitar. At the same time, consider how it is possible to expand such a scale in a variety of musical applications. To achieve this, let us look at a few examples taken directly from players that I admire.

Example 1:

The first example is from a song called “The River Dragon Has Come” by Nevermore (Dead Heart in a Dead World/2000). It’s a perfect example of how a simple Diminished idea can be replicated across the neck to create a moment of musical tension and an extremely dark and unresolving atmosphere. The rhythm is simply a stream of 16th notes; the accents highlight the weak beats, which in turn create a sense of suspension that perfectly matches with the contrasting rhythm guitar track.

Even if it’s not a “fast” lick per se, it requires attention to be performed accurately and with conviction - it is not easy to keep a steady sense of pulse/time in tempo. This part of the solo repeats itself for a second time, but it moves down chromatically (a half step). After these first 8 bars a second lead guitar enters the fray, harmonizing the lick a minor third down. In regards to mechanics, the lick involves both alternate and sweep picking, making this an excellent work out for both techniques.

Nevermore - The River Dragon Has Come

Audio:

Continue to Example 2>>