Your thought process on the Half/whole and whole/half step diminished
scales is great. I try and focus on chords much more than scales/modes
and this is a great way to relate the two. I know that the whole/half
version works for diminished chords and the half/whole version works
for altered dominant chords, but I never really related my thinking of
the modes to the chords. It is so obvious and simple.
As a side note I used to wonder why this jazz stuff was so complicated.
I am a bright educated person, why doesn't it click for me. My current
teacher (actually a 40+ year performer who I conviced to teach me) says
it's because you think too much. He has shown me many SIMPLE ways to
accomphish things that I had already "learned" but couldn't pull off.
A simple example is rythmns. I learned the 1 and a 2 method of
counting rythmns as a drummer (I currently play bass). I no longer do
this. I quickly identify the 1-2-3-4 or 1-2-3 etc. and "feel" the
other beats relative to these since I know where the down beats must
fall. It took a little practice, and a little guidance, but it is much
more intuitive than the cold analytical beat subdivision method I
previously learned.
Mike