Diminished (whole-half) scale in C on electric guitar
Diminished (whole-half) scale in C: C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bbb and B, the degrees 1–2–b3–4–b5–b6–bb7–7. The box shown runs from fret 1 to 5; the lowest tonic sits on the 5th string, fret 3, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On electric guitar, the slimmer neck invites legato — the same fingering runs with less effort, and the high positions stay comfortable. Plugged into an amp, each chord sustains for as long as you hold it, and the tone — clean or driven — shapes the whole sound.
Once the shape is memorized, play the box in thirds: the real memory test.
Text description
Frets 1 to 5, 6 strings. Root (C): string 5, fret 3 and string 2, fret 1.
- String 6 (E): fret 2, G flat, flat fifth, finger 2; fret 4, A flat, flat sixth, finger 3; fret 5, B double flat, double-flat seventh, finger 4
- String 5 (A): fret 2, B, seventh, finger 2; fret 3, C, root, finger 3; fret 5, D, second, finger 4
- String 4 (D): fret 1, E flat, flat third, finger 1; fret 3, F, fourth, finger 2; fret 4, G flat, flat fifth, finger 4
- String 3 (G): fret 1, A flat, flat sixth, finger 1; fret 2, B double flat, double-flat seventh, finger 2; fret 4, B, seventh, finger 4
- String 2 (B): fret 1, C, root, finger 1; fret 3, D, second, finger 2; fret 4, E flat, flat third, finger 4
- String 1 (E): fret 1, F, fourth, finger 1; fret 2, G flat, flat fifth, finger 2; fret 4, A flat, flat sixth, finger 4
Read the dots by degree: 1 is the tonic (highlighted); the rest follow the scale's formula.
See the full explanation of the diminished (whole-half) scale →