Scales
D Whole Tone Scale
D · E · F# · G# · A# · B#
Six notes, every step a whole tone — perfectly symmetrical, and completely without gravity.
D Whole Tone Scale
D · E · F# · G# · A# · B#
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 | D · E · F# · G# · A# · B# · D | |
| Left hand | 2 1 4 3 2 1 2 | D · E · F# · G# · A# · B# · 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 Whole Tone is made of the notes D · E · F# · G# · A# · B#. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern W W W W W W.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · pentatonic and blues scales
Related scales
D Whole Tone is a selection of notes from larger scales rather than a seven-note scale of its own, so it has no chords of its own: it takes them from the scales that contain it, listed here with the scales it contains and its related keys.
Scales inside it
D Whole Tone PentatonicD · F# · Ab · Bb · C
Every note of this scale is in D Whole Tone.
Scales that contain it
D Locrian MajorD · E · F# · G · Ab · Bb · C
Contains every note of D Whole Tone.
D Leading Whole ToneD · E · F# · G# · A# · C · C#
Contains every note of D Whole Tone.
D Lydian MinorD · E · F# · G# · A · Bb · C
Contains every note of D Whole Tone.
D Messiaen's Mode #6D · E · F# · G · G# · A# · B# · C#
Contains every note of D Whole Tone.
D Messiaen's Mode #3D · E · F · F# · G# · A · Bb · C · C#
Contains every note of D Whole Tone.
D ChromaticD · Eb · E · F · F# · G · Ab · A · Bb · B · C · C#
Contains every note of D Whole Tone.
Open it in a tool
Understanding D Whole Tone
Names and spellings
There are only two whole-tone scales in all: every whole-tone scale is one of them, started from a different note. Because every step is the same, no note stands out as the tonic unless the music insists on it.
How it is built
On D the scale is D · E · F# · G# · A# · B#, following the step pattern W W W W W W. Every interval is identical, which means the scale has no half steps, no perfect fifth and no leading tone.
Because it is symmetrical there are only two whole tone scales in all twelve keys. Transpose one by a whole step and you get the same set of notes back.
How it is used
With no perfect fifth, nothing in it can form a major or minor triad — only augmented ones. That absence of hierarchy is exactly what Debussy and Ravel used it for: a passage that hangs without resolving.
In jazz it is the scale over a 7♯5 chord, whose root, third, augmented fifth and seventh it spells exactly.
Learn this properly
Chapter 17: Theory in StylesCommon questions
- What notes are in the D Whole Tone?
- The D Whole Tone contains D · E · F# · G# · A# · B#. Find every scale that contains these notes with the scale finder.
- How many whole tone scales are there?
- Two. The scale is symmetrical, so all twelve roots produce only two distinct sets of notes.
- What chord does the whole tone scale fit over?
- The augmented dominant, 7♯5, whose notes it contains exactly.
- How do I play D 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 1 2 3 1 2 3 4, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What is the formula of D Whole Tone?
- From D the steps run W W W W W W, 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.