C Half Whole Diminished — Plectrum Banjo

C Half Whole Diminished is 8 notes to the octave (symmetric family), drawn here across the Plectrum Banjo's CGBD strings with every C marked, so home stays visible from anywhere in the pattern.

Tense, symmetrical, and slightly sinister — alternating half and whole steps pack in the b9, #9, #11, and 13, so it sounds like a dominant chord stretched to breaking point. Edgy, jazzy, and restless.

Heard in: Jazz lines over 13b9 dominant chords, fusion, film-noir and horror scoring — the sound of a V chord that refuses to settle.

The long neck puts the same note in more places than four strings usually offer, so these maps show the whole CGBD field and leave the choice of route to you.

Run it against a click at a tempo where every note gets the same weight. On a banjo an uneven scale is audible immediately — the instrument gives you no sustain to hide behind.