LIVE FROM FLAT V

DIMINISHED RETURNS, PART 2  - More on using diminished shapes in a blues solo

- Josh Smith

LAST MONTH, WE began our investigation into ways in which to incorporate diminished ideas into a blues solo. Our examples were based on a standard 12-bar blues progression in the key of A, and we made it from the I (one) chord, A6, to the IV (four) chord, D7, and back. This month, let's continue by heading from the I chord to the V (five), E7, and back, using diminished 7 chord shapes, which I'll refer to simply as diminished, as harmonic-melodic "bridges" between the primary chords.

As shown in FIGURE 1, I'm transitioning from A6 to E7 using Ebdim7 as a bridge. A great thing about a diminished chord is that any of its four notes may be considered the root. For example, the notes A, E, G (F) and C, as shown in bar 2, can be thought of as an Ebdim7, Adim7, Godim7 or Cdim7 chord.