F diminished whole-half scale

Notes: F G Ab Bb Cb Db D E
Formula: 1 2 b3 4 b5 b6 6 7
Steps: W H W H W H W H (W tone, H semitone)
Also called: F octatonic, starting with a tone

Eight notes from F up to the next F. Symmetric scales repeat a letter or skip one, so the spelling here keeps each note to a single sharp or flat.

F diminished whole-half on the piano

From F4 to F5, the root in blue-green.

Intervals from F

Note	Degree	Interval	Semitones
F	1	root	0
G	2	major second	2
Ab	b3	minor third	3
Bb	4	perfect fourth	5
Cb	b5	diminished fifth	6
Db	b6	minor sixth	8
D	6	major sixth	9
E	7	major seventh	11

F 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 F 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
F	Fdim, Fdim7
G	G, Gm, Gdim, G6, Gm6, G7, Gm7, Gm7b5, Gdim7, G7b9, G7#9
Ab (G#)	G#dim, G#dim7
Bb	Bb, Bbm, A#dim, Bb6, Bbm6, Bb7, Bbm7, A#m7b5, A#dim7, Bb7b9, Bb7#9
Cb (B)	Bdim, Bdim7
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

Same notes, different home note

F diminished whole-half uses exactly the same notes as Db diminished half-whole, D diminished whole-half, E diminished half-whole, G diminished half-whole, G# diminished whole-half, Bb diminished half-whole and B diminished whole-half. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.

How F 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 Fdim7 (F Ab Cb D) 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, G# and B.

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.