D# Minor Six Diminished Guitar Scale
Guitar scale in Double Drop D tuning — fretboard diagram
D# Minor Six Diminished in Double Drop D — Notes and Intervals
The D# Minor Six Diminished scale is a sophisticated jazz scale popularized by the Barry Harris method. On Guitar, its notes are D#, F, F#, G#, A#, B, C, D. It is the secret to professional voice leading in bebop, allowing for smooth, elegant movements between minor chords and their related tensions. Commonly used in Jazz, Bebop, Swing. Notable players include Barry Harris, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell. Use over m6 chords and their related dim7 chords. The scale alternates between chord tones and diminished passing tones, creating seamless bebop voice leading.
Notes: D#, F, F#, G#, A#, B, C, D
Intervals: 1P, 2M, 3m, 4P, 5P, 6m, 6M, 7M
Degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 8
Formula: W-H-W-W-H-H-W-H
Number of notes: 8
Tuning: Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)
About Double Drop D Tuning
Double Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) lowers both the 6th and 1st strings from E to D, creating a symmetrical frame of D notes around the standard middle four strings. This gives a distinctly resonant, jangly character that has been beloved in folk-rock and acoustic music since the late 1960s.
Neil Young used Double Drop D extensively — 'Cinnamon Girl' features its distinctive droning riff, and 'The Needle and the Damage Done' showcases its intimate fingerpicking potential. Jimmy Page used it on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'. Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' also employs this tuning. Because only two strings change (both by just one whole step), Double Drop D is one of the easiest alternate tunings to learn — most standard chord shapes on the inner four strings remain unchanged.
Notable artists: Neil Young, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Best for: Folk-rock songwriting, D-centric acoustic arrangements, droning fingerpicking patterns, and any song that benefits from rich D-string resonance on both outer strings
Musical Character
The 'Barry Harris scale' — an 8-note system that provides the secret to professional voice leading in bebop. It allows for smooth, elegant movements between minor chords and their related diminished tensions.
Explore This Scale in Other Tunings
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Standard Tuning
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Drop D
- D# Minor Six Diminished in DADGAD
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Open G
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Baritone (B Standard)
- D# Minor Six Diminished in 7-string
- D# Minor Six Diminished in 8-string
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Drop C
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Drop B
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Open D
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Half Step Down
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Open E
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Open A
- D# Minor Six Diminished in Open C