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The Major Sixth Diminished Scale - Guitar Diagrams And Theory

The major sixth diminished scale combines elements of the major scale and the diminished sound, offering a unique tool for improvisation in jazz guitar.

This lesson inspired by Barry Harris concept covers its structure, theory, and application, providing guitar diagrams and practical examples to help players incorporate the scale into their solos.

It also explains how this scale fits over major 6th chords and diminished chords, making it versatile for various harmonic contexts.

Construction

The major sixth diminished scale can be seen as the major scale (Ionian mode) with an added flat sixth (b6), thus providing the following interval formula :

Tonic (1), major second (2), major third (3), perfect fourth (4), perfect fifth (5), minor sixth (b6), major sixth (6) and major seventh (7).

C Major 6 Diminished C D E F G Ab A B
Formula 1 2 3 4 5 b6 6 7
Intervals W W H W H H W H

 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FREE PDF 

One Octave Shapes

These four guitar neck diagrams show how to play the major 6 diminished scale in the space of one octave.

These are movable shapes, meaning that you can play them anywhere on the guitar.

Find the root and you'll get the name of the scale.

Major sixth diminished guitar scales

Two Octave Shapes

These two transposable guitar patterns show the major sixth diminished scale within the space of two octaves.

Major sixth diminished scale guitar charts

Harmonization (Barry Harris Concept)

The major sixth diminished scale is well known as being a harmonic concept developped by jazz musician Barry Harris.

The idee behind is that the scale is actually a mix of two chords (maj6 and dim7).

Let's take the C6° scale as an example. The notes making up this scale are : C (1), D (2), E (3), F (4), G (5), Ab (b6), A (6) and B (7).

We can deduce that there are the two chords listed above : 

  • C Major 6 (C, E, G, A).
  • B Diminished 7 (B, D, F, Ab).

This concept also applies to the minor 6 diminished scale.

Major sixth diminished scale

The tab/staff below show the chords built on each step of the major sixth diminished scale.

You see the alternating sequence of maj6 and dim7 chords.

Major sixth diminished scale guitar chords

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Last edited: 2026-04-16

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