Bb diminished half-whole scale
- Notes
- Bb Cb C# D E F G Ab
- Formula
- 1 b2 #2 3 #4 5 6 b7
- Steps
- H W H W H W H W (W tone, H semitone)
- Also called
- Bb dominant diminished, Bb octatonic, starting with a semitone
- Also written
- A# diminished half-whole: A# B C# D E E# G G#
Eight notes from Bb up to the next Bb. Symmetric scales repeat a letter or skip one, so the spelling here keeps each note to a single sharp or flat.
Bb diminished half-whole on the piano
From Bb4 to Bb5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from Bb
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bb | 1 | root | 0 |
| Cb | b2 | minor second | 1 |
| C# | #2 | augmented second | 3 |
| D | 3 | major third | 4 |
| E | #4 | augmented fourth | 6 |
| F | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| G | 6 | major sixth | 9 |
| Ab | b7 | minor seventh | 10 |
Bb 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 Bb 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 |
|---|---|
| Bb | Bb, Bbm, A#dim, Bb6, Bbm6, Bb7, Bbm7, A#m7b5, A#dim7, Bb7b9, Bb7#9 |
| Cb (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 |
| Ab (G#) | G#dim, G#dim7 |
Same notes, different home note
Bb diminished half-whole 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 B diminished whole-half. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.
How Bb 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 Db, E and G; there are only three different diminished scales in all. Jazz players use this one over a dominant seventh with a flat or sharp 9th: Bb7, Bb7b9 and Bb7#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. A# diminished half-whole is the same sounds written from A#; 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.