Scott Henderson Discussion

[rw852]

Hi scott,

how do you name a diminished chord with b13(b6) ?
like this one Gdim(b13) :

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i watched joe pass's video and he said it's wrong to name it as F#13(b9),I know about the substitution, but how would you name it if you see G as the root ? thanks very much.

Ricky

[Scott Henderson]

If I understand you correctly, you mean a G diminished chord with an Eb in it. Voiced from the top - G Eb Bb E. That chord usually has F# as the root, and it's just an F#13(b9). I shouldn't be teaching for free, but this is short - you can add a note up a whole step from any diminished chord tone and it doesn't change the chord's function, it just adds color. In this case you've added an Eb, which is a whole step up from Db. You could also add an A, C, or F# to that chord.

[rw852]

Hi Scott,

Thanks very much,i should attach a chord diagram :



How do you call this chord if G is root ? Gdim13,Gdim7(b13) ? i'm just having problem to write this on paper,thanks for your free lesson

Ricky

[Scott Henderson]

I see - sorry, there are some chords that you'll never be able to label by using standard chord symbols. You could call it G dim(b13), but where's the Db? It;s not really a true diminished chord without it, and if someone reads that symbol on paper, they'll try to put it in there, and maybe that's not the sound you want. When I'm not sure how someone's going to interpret a chord symbol, I just write out the notes - much easier.

[rw852]

cool,never thought of that,many thanks !