Improvising Passing Diminished Chords
There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds diminished chords. How do they work exactly? What chordscales do they take? How do you improvise over them? Gain some insight into these questions through an examination of Red Garland's solo over the changes to the standard tune It Could Happen to You from the recording Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet from 1956. This lesson will show you a couple of his strategies for negotiating passing diminished chords and how you can adopt them to your own solos so you can finally dispel the mystery of these chords once and for all.

Lesson Stats
When added: 05/17/09; Duration: 18 minutes

Prerequisites
Moderate keyboard proficiency. Ability to read notation and play all 12 major scales. These lessons are good prerequisites: The Five Essential 7th Chords, The Four Components of Melodic Construction, Improvisation: The Concept

Quizzes
Quiz 1: Improvising Over Passing Diminished Chords Quiz

Practice Sessions & Playalongs
Practice Session 1-3: Write out and improvise solos over the changes to the Benny Golson tune I Remember Clifford using the three techniques explained in the lesson.

Includes play-alongs for practice sessions in MIDI, Band-in-a-Box™ and GarageBand formats.

Resources for further Listening and Reading
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