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Guitar scale · dominant diminished, diminished scale

Ab Half-Whole Diminished Scale

8-note symmetrical scale used over dominant 7th chords for tension and outside soloing.

Notes AbABCDEbFGb
Formula 1 ♭9 ♯9 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7
Steps H W H W H W H W
Mood Symmetrical, Tense, Outside
Heard in Jazz Fusion, Shred Metal, Bebop

Interactive scale diagram

Ab Half-Whole Diminished Scale · Standard tuning

STR OP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 E A D G B E

Tap any note to hear it.

Ab Half-Whole Diminished Scale tab: all 5 positions

Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.

Position 1 · E shape frets 4–8 
e|---------------------------------4-5-7-8-|
B|-----------------------------6-7---------|
G|---------------------4-5-7-8-------------|
D|---------------4-6-7---------------------|
A|---------5-6-8---------------------------|
E|-4-5-7-8---------------------------------|
Position 2 · D shape frets 6–10 
e|-------------------------------------7-8-10-|
B|------------------------------7-9-10--------|
G|-----------------------7-8-10---------------|
D|--------------6-7-9-10----------------------|
A|--------6-8-9-------------------------------|
E|-7-8-10-------------------------------------|
Position 3 · C shape frets 8–12 
e|-------------------------------------------8-10-11-|
B|-----------------------------------9-10-12---------|
G|---------------------------8-10-11-----------------|
D|-------------------9-10-12-------------------------|
A|---------8-9-11-12---------------------------------|
E|-8-10-11-------------------------------------------|
Position 4 · A shape frets 11–15 
e|-------------------------------------------------11-13-14-|
B|----------------------------------------12-13-15----------|
G|-------------------------------11-13-14-------------------|
D|----------------------12-13-15----------------------------|
A|----------11-12-14-15-------------------------------------|
E|-11-13-14-------------------------------------------------|
Position 5 · G shape frets 13–17 
e|-------------------------------------------------13-14-16-17-|
B|-------------------------------------------15-16-------------|
G|-------------------------------13-14-16-17-------------------|
D|----------------------13-15-16-------------------------------|
A|-------------14-15-17----------------------------------------|
E|-13-14-16-17-------------------------------------------------|

How to play Ab Half-Whole Diminished on guitar

Find the root first: Ab is at fret 4 on the low E string and fret 11 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every Ab on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (3, 5, ♭7), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.

Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 4–8. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.

Degrees

DegreeNote
1 Ab
♭9 A
♯9 B
3 C
♯4 D
5 Eb
6 F
♭7 Gb

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Questions

What notes are in the Ab Half-Whole Diminished Scale?
The Ab Half-Whole Diminished Scale has 8 notes: Ab, A, B, C, D, Eb, F, Gb.
What is the formula of the half-whole diminished scale?
1 ♭9 ♯9 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7, which is the step pattern H W H W H W H W (W = whole step, H = half step).
Where do I play Ab Half-Whole Diminished on the guitar?
The root Ab is at fret 4 on the low E string and fret 11 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 4–8, and four more positions connect it up the neck.

Half-Whole Diminished Scale in every key

C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B

More scales in Ab

Ab Major Ab Minor Ab Minor Pentatonic Ab Major Pentatonic Ab Blues Ab Major Blues Ab Dorian Ab Phrygian Ab Lydian Ab Mixolydian Ab Locrian Ab Harmonic Minor Ab Phrygian Dominant Ab Melodic Minor Ab Lydian Dominant Ab Lydian Augmented Ab Altered Ab Whole Tone Ab Whole-Half Diminished Ab Bebop Dominant Ab Hungarian Minor Ab Dorian b2 Ab Mixolydian b6 Ab Locrian Natural 2 Ab Locrian Natural 6 Ab Ionian #5 Ab Ukrainian Dorian Ab Lydian #2 Ab Ultralocrian Ab Harmonic Major Ab Dorian b5 Ab Lydian b3 Ab Double Harmonic Major Ab Oriental Ab Neapolitan Minor Ab Neapolitan Major Ab Augmented Ab Bebop Major Ab Bebop Dorian Ab Yo Ab Hirajoshi Ab In Ab In Sen Ab Iwato Ab Phrygian b4 Ab Mixolydian b2 Ab Lydian Augmented #2 Ab Locrian bb7 Ab Lydian #2 #6 Ab Ultraphrygian Ab Ionian Augmented #2 Ab Locrian bb3 bb7 Ab Leading Whole Tone Ab Major Locrian Ab Lydian Dominant b6 Ab Hungarian Major Ab Persian Ab Enigmatic Ab Prometheus Ab Tritone Ab Bebop Melodic Minor Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor Ab Egyptian Pentatonic Ab Man Gong