Diminished scale

The notes of the C diminished scale

C D E♭ F G♭ A♭ A B

Formula: 1 2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 6 7. Steps from note to note: 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 semitones (whole, half, whole, half, whole, half, whole, half).

Eight notes, whole step then half step, round and round (whole-half, the one jazz players use over diminished chords). It repeats every three semitones: C, E♭, G♭ and A give the same notes.

The diminished scale in all twelve keys

Only three of them

Because the pattern repeats every three half steps, C, E♭, F♯ and A whole-half diminished are the same eight notes; there are only three different diminished scales. Jazz players use whole-half over a diminished seventh chord and the half-whole version (start on the second note) over a dominant chord with a ♭9. It is the sound of suspense in film scores.

More scales

Major scale Minor scale Pentatonic scale Chromatic scale Minor pentatonic scale Melodic minor scale

How this page works

Hear it plays the scale up and down at 100 BPM on one of four Brumm sounds. Take it gives the same notes as a MIDI file and a WAV. − and + move the root. Every note here is computed from the formula.

Sources

Scales and modes: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Piano fingerings: the standard scale-book fingerings (ABRSM scale books; Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist, part 3). Trumpet valves: the standard B♭ trumpet fingering chart (Yamaha, Bach). Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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