How to use Diminished Passing Chord

[wccook2]

In Danny Boy, you did not harmonize each of the first three melody notes - F# - G - A.

The typical harmonization I think is D7 - Am7 - D7 and then going to the I major G.

I tried the G diminished chord instead of the Am, but it did not sound right with "Danny Boy".

When you have a melodic stepwise pattern with notes of the mode, should you use the diatonic chords and not the diminished for harmonizing? What melodic stepwise pattern is appropriate for using the diminished passing chords?

[crilee]

Hi,

If you think of dim approche as a harmonized scale walking in half steps to your target that might help. That means istead of changing Am to a G dim you should use your dim approache to reach your target which could be your Am.

The dim approache sounds best when the target is a minor chord b.t.w.

Ex. to go from G to Am use G then A#dim as the approache to Am which sounds fantastic in my ears.

Does this help or have I got the question wrong?

[crilee]

...the dim approche is often used in series of four. Ex. F-F#dim-Gm-G#dim-Am.

Thats a very common stepwise pattern for dim appr. So, shortly, half steps is the shit when it comes to dim appro.