Augmented and diminished chords have something of a bad reputation. Whenever anyone makes a joke about an overly complicated piece of music, they’re usually part of the punchline. In actual fact, ...

Sometimes you just need a chord that spooks the hell out of you, and that’s when you reach for something diminished. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Here’s my go-to practice routine for tackling altered dominant chords—especially those spicy #5/#9 voicings—and the diminished whole-tone scale (aka the 7th mode of the melodic minor). These sounds ...