Also written Auxiliary Diminished Blues, Half-Whole or Balinese
A♭ blues diminished runs A♭, B♭♭, C♭, C, E♭♭, E♭, F, G♭. Practise Box 4 to keep the root on string 3, fret 11.
A♭ blues diminished adds a ♭2 to the A♭ hungarian major scale, which supplies the other seven notes. The scale contains a tritone between A♭ and E♭♭, but no leading tone. Compare it with A♭ hungarian major.
A♭ blues diminished fits A♭ major and A♭ minor chords for blues lines. It also works over A diminished and A diminished 7th in passing. Use it in A♭ blues progressions when you need a darker, chromatic edge.
Learn Box 4 first: it keeps the A♭ root on string 3, fret 11 and string 1, fret 13. That position covers frets 10–13 and sets up Box 5.
A♭ blues diminished in box 1 runs from fret 0 to fret 4, 13 notes across 4 strings, from F on the E string at fret 1 up to C♭ on the G string at fret 4. The root falls on the E string at fret 4 and the G string at fret 1.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 1, 2, 4 | F, G♭, A♭ |
| 3 (A) | 0, 2, 3 | B♭♭, C♭, C |
| 2 (D) | 0, 1, 3, 4 | E♭♭, E♭, F, G♭ |
| 1 (G) | 1, 2, 4 | A♭, B♭♭, C♭ |
A♭ blues diminished in box 2 runs from fret 4 to fret 7, 11 notes across 4 strings, from A♭ on the E string at fret 4 up to E♭♭ on the G string at fret 7. The root falls on the E string at fret 4 and the D string at fret 6.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 4, 5, 7 | A♭, B♭♭, C♭ |
| 3 (A) | 5, 6 | E♭♭, E♭ |
| 2 (D) | 4, 6, 7 | G♭, A♭, B♭♭ |
| 1 (G) | 4, 5, 7 | C♭, C, E♭♭ |
A♭ blues diminished in box 3 runs from fret 7 to fret 10, 11 notes across 4 strings, from C♭ on the E string at fret 7 up to F on the G string at fret 10. No root falls inside this box; it sits between two of them.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 7, 8, 10 | C♭, C, E♭♭ |
| 3 (A) | 8, 9 | F, G♭ |
| 2 (D) | 7, 9, 10 | B♭♭, C♭, C |
| 1 (G) | 7, 8, 10 | E♭♭, E♭, F |
A♭ blues diminished in box 4 runs from fret 10 to fret 13, 11 notes across 4 strings, from E♭♭ on the E string at fret 10 up to A♭ on the G string at fret 13. The root falls on the A string at fret 11 and the G string at fret 13.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 10, 11, 13 | E♭♭, E♭, F |
| 3 (A) | 11, 12 | A♭, B♭♭ |
| 2 (D) | 10, 12, 13 | C, E♭♭, E♭ |
| 1 (G) | 10, 11, 13 | F, G♭, A♭ |
Every chord here uses only notes from the scale. Tap one to open it.
A♭ blues diminished contains A♭, B♭♭, C♭, C, E♭♭, E♭, F, and G♭. The scale degrees are 1, ♭2, ♭3, 3, ♭5, 5, 6, and ♭7. It has eight notes total. It is also spelled G♯ in enharmonic notation for the same sounding root.
A♭ blues diminished fits A♭ major and A♭ minor chords. It also works over A diminished and A diminished 7th chords. Use it for blues lines with a chromatic twist.
A♭ blues diminished adds a ♭2 to A♭ hungarian major. A♭ hungarian major has seven notes: A♭, C♭, C, E♭♭, E♭, F, G♭. The blues diminished version includes B♭♭ as the extra note.
A♭ blues diminished contains a tritone between A♭ and E♭♭. That interval is a diminished fifth, six semitones above the root. It does not contain a leading tone.