Scales
D Leading Whole Tone Scale
D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C#
D Leading Whole Tone is a scale built on D with the notes D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C#.
D Leading Whole Tone Scale
D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C#
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 | D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C# · D | |
| Left hand | 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 | D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C# · D |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
D Leading Whole Tone is made of the notes D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C#. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern W W W W W H H.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale
Chords in this key
Stacking thirds on each degree of D Leading Whole Tone gives the chords of the key; the roman numeral names the degree each is built on.
Triads
Related scales
The scales D Leading Whole Tone shares its notes with: the one it is a rotation of, the relative and parallel keys, the scales inside it and the ones that contain it.
Scales inside it
D Whole Tone PentatonicD · F# · Ab · Bb · C
Every note of this scale is in D Leading Whole Tone.
D Whole ToneD · E · F# · G# · A# · B#
Every note of this scale is in D Leading Whole Tone.
Scales that contain it
D Messiaen's Mode #6D · E · F# · G · G# · A# · B# · C#
Contains every note of D Leading Whole Tone.
D Messiaen's Mode #3D · E · F · F# · G# · A · Bb · C · C#
Contains every note of D Leading Whole Tone.
D ChromaticD · Eb · E · F · F# · G · Ab · A · Bb · B · C · C#
Contains every note of D Leading Whole Tone.
Common questions
- How do I play D Leading Whole Tone?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What chords are in the key of D Leading Whole Tone?
- Stacking thirds on each degree of D Leading Whole Tone gives Daug (I+), Eaug (II+), F# (III), G#majb5 (IV), A#dim (v°), D7no5/C (VI), C#m (vii). These are the diatonic chords of the key, the ones a song in this key uses most; the harmony band on this page lists them with the seventh chords built the same way.
- What notes are in D Leading Whole Tone?
- D Leading Whole Tone contains the notes D · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C#, measured from the tonic D as the intervals 1P, 2M, 3M, 4A, 5A, 7m, 7M. Play them in order for the scale: every note on this page sounds when you tap it, and the step pattern under the degrees shows the distance from each note to the next.
- What is the formula of D Leading Whole Tone?
- From D the steps run W W W W W H H, where a whole step is two frets or two keys and a half step one. Apply the same pattern from any other note and you get the same scale on that root, which is why every root of this scale has a page here.