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