Major Sixth Diminished Guitar Lesson
This guitar lesson is about a harmonic concept mapped out and developed by jazz musician Barry Harris that can be found in the book “The Barry Harris Harmonic Method For Guitar” by Alan Kingstone. This blog article details a little bit more in depth about what is the major 6 diminished scale and how to harmonize it with major 6 and diminished 7 chords.
Major Sixth Chords
First you need to know how to construct Major six chords. They are built on the basis of a major triad : Root (1), major third (3), perfect fifth (5) with a major sixth (6) added on the top. Notice that they can be written M6, Maj6 or simply 6 (CMaj6, CM6 or C6 for example).
![Major Sixth Diminished Guitar Lesson](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/lesson.jpg)
Here are some drop 2 and drop 3 major 6 chords shapes (root position and three inversions). Notice that they are all movable, find the root and play it anywhere on the guitar neck.
![Major Sixth Diminished Major Sixth Diminished](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Major-Sixth-chords-1-683x1024.jpg)
Diminished Seventh Chords
Now, let’s tackle diminished 7 chords. They have the particularity of being symmetrical, the interval between each note being the same (each note of a diminished 7 chord is a minor third away). This means that one shape provides four diminished chords, each one three semitones away from the other. Here are drop 2 and drop 3 movable shapes to play diminished 7 chords on guitar.
![Major Sixth Diminished diminished Guitar Chords](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/diminished-Guitar-Chords-674x1024.jpg)
The Major Sixth Diminished Scale
The major 6 diminished scale is a little bit weird and unusual but also very interesting for composing and chord melody arrangements. It is actually a combination of the two chords previously discussed, making it an eight note scale built of : 1 (tonic), second (2), major third (3), fourth (4), fifth (5), minor sixth (b6), major sixth (6) and major seventh (7). :
- Major 6 (1, 3, 5, 6).
- Diminished 7 (1, b3, b5, bb7).
For example, to build a C6° scale, just take a C6 chord (C-E-G-B) and a diminished chord built from its seventh (B), so a B diminished chord (B-D-F-Ab). As you seen in the staff below, the notes of Bdim7 are inserted between each note of C6.
![Major Sixth Diminished Major Sixth Diminished Scale Guitar](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Major-Sixth-Diminished-Scale-Guitar-1024x389.jpg)
Maj6 Diminished Scale Harmonization
This chapter is to harmonize the major 6° scale with Major Sixth and Diminished 7 chords. Because this scale is actually made by alternating each note of these two chords, they follow each other half the time. Thus giving in the key of C the following chord progression : C6, Ddim7, C6/E, Fdim7, C6/G, Abdim7, C6/A and Bdim7
![Major Sixth Diminished Major sixth diminished Guitar Chords](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Major-sixth-diminished-Guitar-Chords-594x1024.jpg)
Exercises
Here are four exercises implying the C major sixth diminished scale. The first two are to combine some of the sixth and diminished seventh chord voicings previously seen with melodic lines.
![Major Sixth Diminished major Sixth diminished exercise](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/major-Sixth-diminished-exercise-1024x259.jpg)
![Major Sixth Diminished major Sixth diminished exercise 2nd](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/major-Sixth-diminished-exercise-2nd-1024x259.jpg)
This third exercise consists in playing the chords of the major 6 diminished scale in vertical movement, so as to avoid moving the right hand too much, thus covering all the six strings of the guitar.
![Major Sixth Diminished diminished chords vertical](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/diminished-chords-vertical-1024x314.jpg)
This last one includes short bass lines to connect the eight chords of C6 diminished.
![Major Sixth Diminished major 6 diminished bass line](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/major-6-diminished-bass-line.jpg)
Thank You
![Major Sixth Diminished Basic Guitar Chords](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Basic-Guitar-Chords.jpg)
![Major Sixth Diminished yeh Fitoor mera Guitar Chords](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/yeh-Fitoor-mera-Guitar-Chords-Cover.jpg)
![Major Sixth Diminished Someone You Loved Guitar Chords](https://devoomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Someone-You-Loved-.jpg)
More
Old 97’s | The Disconnect Chords | Best 2014
The Disconnect Chords by Old 97’sLitsen [chordpress float=”none” format=”yes’ transpose=”0″…
Arijit Singh | Phir Na Aisi Raat Aayegi Chords | Best 2022
Phir Na Aisi Raat Aayegi Chords by Arijit SinghLitsen [chordpress…
Free Download | Hard Rock Arpeggios Alternate Picking in PDF | Level 3
Hard Rock Arpeggios Studies Level 3Download in PDF This is…
Free Download | Hard Rock Arpeggios Studies in PDF | Level 2
Hard Rock-Arpeggios Studies Level 2Download in PDF This Study Covers…
Free Download | Hard Rock Arpeggio Studies PDF Book | Level 1
Hard Rock Arpeggio Studies Level 1Download in PDF This Level…
Top 5 | Finger Exercises for Guitar | Download PDF
Top 5 Finger Exercises for GuitarFinger Exercise 1Finger Exercise 2Finger…