Guitar UpscaleDiminished Whole Tone scale on guitar
The diminished whole tone scale starts like a diminished scale and ends like a whole tone scale. It is the altered scale.
Also listed in the app as Altered Scale (Super Locrian).
| Notes in A | A Bb C Db Eb F G |
|---|---|
| Formula | 1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 |
| Steps | H W H W W W W (W whole step, H half step) |
| Note count | 7 |
| Style in the app | Special, scale "Diminished Whole Tone" |
Play A Diminished Whole Tone on the fretboard in Guitar Upscale
About the Diminished Whole Tone scale
The notes are root, flat 2nd, sharp 2nd, 3rd, flat 5th, raised 5th and flat 7th. They are the same notes as the altered scale.
The name tells its shape: half and whole steps at the bottom, whole steps at the top.
Use it over a dominant chord that resolves, such as G7alt to C.
Intervals from the root
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | In A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | A |
| b2 | Minor 2nd | 1 | Bb |
| b3 | Minor 3rd | 3 | C |
| b4 | Major 3rd | 4 | Db |
| b5 | Tritone | 6 | Eb |
| b6 | Minor 6th | 8 | F |
| b7 | Minor 7th | 10 | G |
Chords in A Diminished Whole Tone
Stack every other note of the scale and you get one chord on each note. These chords sound at home with the scale, so they make good progressions.
| Degree | Triad | Seventh chord |
|---|---|---|
| i° | Adim | Am7b5 |
| bii | Bbm | BbmMaj7 |
| biii | Cm | Cm7 |
| bIV+ | Dbaug | Dbmaj7#5 |
| bV | Eb | Eb7 |
| bVI | F | F7 |
| bvii° | Gdim | Gm7b5 |
Same notes, another starting note
Start the A Diminished Whole Tone scale on another of its notes and you get these scales:
- From degree b2 (Bb): Bb Melodic Minor
- From degree b3 (C): C Javanese (Dorian b2)
- From degree b4 (Db): Db Lydian Augmented
- From degree b5 (Eb): Eb Overtone (Lydian Dominant)
- From degree b6 (F): F Hindu (Mixolydian b6)
- From degree b7 (G): G Locrian #2 (Half Diminished)
Diminished Whole Tone in every key
| Key | Notes | Play it |
|---|---|---|
| C | C Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb | Open |
| C# | C# D E F G A B | Open |
| D | D Eb F Gb Ab Bb C | Open |
| Eb | Eb Fb Gb G A Cb Db | Open |
| E | E F G Ab Bb C D | Open |
| F | F Gb Ab A Cb Db Eb | Open |
| F# | F# G A Bb C D E | Open |
| G | G Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F | Open |
| G# | G# A B C D E F# | Open |
| A | A Bb C Db Eb F G | Open |
| Bb | Bb Cb Db D Fb Gb Ab | Open |
| B | B C D Eb F G A | Open |
More Special scales
- Chromatic Scale
- Whole Tone Scale
- Leading Whole Tone
- Diminished (Whole Half)
- Diminished (Half Whole)
- Octatonic Scale
- Augmented Scale
- Enigmatic Scale
- Nine Tone Scale
- Overtone (Lydian Dominant)
- Six Tone Symmetrical
- Altered Scale (Super Locrian)
- Lydian Diminished
- Lydian #2
- Locrian #2 (Half Diminished)
- Locrian Natural 6
- Ultralocrian
- Ionian #5