Guitar UpscaleWhole Tone Scale on guitar
The whole tone scale has six notes, each a whole step apart, a dreamy sound with no home note.
| Notes in A | A B C# Eb E# G |
|---|---|
| Formula | 1 2 3 b5 #5 b7 |
| Steps | W W W W W W (W whole step, H half step) |
| Note count | 6 |
| Style in the app | Special, scale "Whole tone" |
Play the A Whole Tone Scale on the fretboard in Guitar Upscale
About the Whole Tone Scale
Every step is a whole step, so the scale has six notes. Only two different whole tone scales exist, since the pattern repeats every two frets.
With no half steps, no note pulls to any other. Debussy used it for a floating, dreamlike mood.
Play it over an augmented chord or a dominant 7th chord with a raised 5th.
Intervals from the root
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | In A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | A |
| 2 | Major 2nd | 2 | B |
| 3 | Major 3rd | 4 | C# |
| b5 | Tritone | 6 | Eb |
| #5 | Minor 6th | 8 | E# |
| b7 | Minor 7th | 10 | G |
Whole Tone Scale in every key
| Key | Notes | Play it |
|---|---|---|
| C | C D E Gb G# Bb | Open |
| Db | Db Eb F G A Cb | Open |
| D | D E F# Ab A# C | Open |
| Eb | Eb F G A B Db | Open |
| E | E F# G# Bb B# D | Open |
| F | F G A Cb C# Eb | Open |
| F# | F# G# A# C D E | Open |
| G | G A B Db D# F | Open |
| Ab | Ab Bb C D E Gb | Open |
| A | A B C# Eb E# G | Open |
| Bb | Bb C D Fb F# Ab | Open |
| B | B C# D# F G A | Open |
More Special scales
- Chromatic Scale
- Leading Whole Tone
- Diminished (Whole Half)
- Diminished (Half Whole)
- Diminished Whole Tone
- 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
- Ten Tone Dominant
- Ten Tone Harmonic
- Ten Tone Minor