B diminished half-whole scale
- Notes
- B C D D# E# F# G# A
- Formula
- 1 b2 #2 3 #4 5 6 b7
- Steps
- H W H W H W H W (W tone, H semitone)
- Also called
- B dominant diminished, B octatonic, starting with a semitone
Eight notes from B up to the next B. Symmetric scales repeat a letter or skip one, so the spelling here keeps each note to a single sharp or flat.
B diminished half-whole on the piano
From B4 to B5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from B
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1 | root | 0 |
| C | b2 | minor second | 1 |
| D | #2 | augmented second | 3 |
| D# | 3 | major third | 4 |
| E# | #4 | augmented fourth | 6 |
| F# | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| G# | 6 | major sixth | 9 |
| A | b7 | minor seventh | 10 |
B diminished half-whole on the guitar
Standard tuning, high e on top as in tablature, open strings to fret 12. Every dot is a note of the scale; the pattern repeats from fret 12 up.
Chords that fit B diminished half-whole
Every chord of the common types (triads, sus, sixths, sevenths, add9, 7b9, 7#9) whose notes are all in the scale, on each of its notes, spelled as on the chord pages. A 8-note scale has no single set of "the" chords the way a seven-note scale does.
| On | Chords |
|---|---|
| B | B, Bm, Bdim, B6, Bm6, B7, Bm7, Bm7b5, Bdim7, B7b9, B7#9 |
| C | Cdim, Cdim7 |
| D | D, Dm, Ddim, D6, Dm6, D7, Dm7, Dm7b5, Ddim7, D7b9, D7#9 |
| D# | D#dim, D#dim7 |
| E# (F) | F, Fm, Fdim, F6, Fm6, F7, Fm7, Fm7b5, Fdim7, F7b9, F7#9 |
| F# | F#dim, F#dim7 |
| G# (Ab) | Ab, G#m, G#dim, Ab6, Abm6, Ab7, G#m7, G#m7b5, G#dim7, G#7b9, Ab7#9 |
| A | Adim, Adim7 |
Same notes, different home note
B diminished half-whole uses exactly the same notes as C diminished whole-half, D diminished half-whole, Eb diminished whole-half, F diminished half-whole, F# diminished whole-half, Ab diminished half-whole and A diminished whole-half. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.
How B diminished half-whole is built
Eight notes, alternating a semitone and a whole tone, starting with the semitone. Because the pattern repeats every three semitones, the same eight notes are also the half-whole scale on D, F and Ab; there are only three different diminished scales in all. Jazz players use this one over a dominant seventh with a flat or sharp 9th: B7, B7b9 and B7#9 all sit inside it, as the chord list below shows.
Played some notes and not sure which scale they come from? The scale finder listens to the piano, a MIDI keyboard or the microphone and ranks all 180 scales.
What this page cannot do
- One spelling per scale. the root is spelled the way that needs the fewest sharps and flats.
- Equal temperament only. Blues and many folk traditions bend notes between these pitches, and Arabic and Turkish maqam scales use quarter tones that a piano cannot play.
- The guitar diagram shows standard tuning only and does not suggest fingerings; any note can be played in several places.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, not a recorded instrument.