F# diminished whole-half scale
- Notes
- F# G# A B C D 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
- Also written
- Gb diminished whole-half: Gb Ab A Cb C D Eb F
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 F#4 to F#5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from F#
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| F# | 1 | root | 0 |
| G# | 2 | major second | 2 |
| A | b3 | minor third | 3 |
| B | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| C | b5 | diminished fifth | 6 |
| D | 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# | 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 |
| 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 |
Same notes, different home note
F# diminished whole-half uses exactly the same notes as C diminished whole-half, D diminished half-whole, Eb diminished whole-half, F diminished half-whole, Ab diminished half-whole, A diminished whole-half and B diminished half-whole. 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 F#dim7 (F# A C 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 C, Eb and A.
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. Gb diminished whole-half is the same sounds written from Gb; 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.