B diminished whole-half scale
- Notes
- B C# D E F G G# A#
- Formula
- 1 2 b3 4 b5 b6 6 7
- Steps
- W H W H W H W H (W tone, H semitone)
- Also called
- B octatonic, starting with a tone
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 whole-half on the piano
From B4 to B5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from B
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1 | root | 0 |
| C# | 2 | major second | 2 |
| D | b3 | minor third | 3 |
| E | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| F | b5 | diminished fifth | 6 |
| G | b6 | minor sixth | 8 |
| G# | 6 | major sixth | 9 |
| A# | 7 | major seventh | 11 |
B diminished whole-half 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 whole-half
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 | Bdim, Bdim7 |
| C# (Db) | Db, C#m, C#dim, Db6, C#m6, Db7, C#m7, C#m7b5, C#dim7, C#7b9, Db7#9 |
| D | Ddim, Ddim7 |
| E | E, Em, Edim, E6, Em6, E7, Em7, Em7b5, Edim7, E7b9, E7#9 |
| F | Fdim, Fdim7 |
| G | G, Gm, Gdim, G6, Gm6, G7, Gm7, Gm7b5, Gdim7, G7b9, G7#9 |
| G# | G#dim, G#dim7 |
| A# (Bb) | Bb, Bbm, A#dim, Bb6, Bbm6, Bb7, Bbm7, A#m7b5, A#dim7, Bb7b9, Bb7#9 |
Same notes, different home note
B diminished whole-half uses exactly the same notes as Db diminished half-whole, D diminished whole-half, E diminished half-whole, F diminished whole-half, G diminished half-whole, G# diminished whole-half and Bb diminished half-whole. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.
How B diminished whole-half is built
Eight notes, alternating a whole tone and a semitone, starting with the whole tone. It holds the diminished seventh chord Bdim7 (B D F G#) plus the note a whole tone above each of its notes, which is why it is the scale played over a diminished seventh chord. Its notes repeat every three semitones, so it is also the whole-half scale on D, F and G#.
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.