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The Whole Tone Scale


Best Uses of the Whole Tone Scale

In this lesson we're going to talk about the whole tone scale, and this scale you've probably heard in different cartoons or movies when the person goes into a dream sequence, and it sounds like this. And what that sound is, is the whole tone scale. There's only two basic structures of it on the piano, but they follow an easy formula. Easier than major. Easier than minor. Easier than even the pentatonic, and as you probably guessed, they consist solely of whole steps. So, if you start from anywhere on the keyboard and go up in whole steps that's what's going to give you that sound like that. So, starting from C, for example, if you go up in whole steps, you've got whole step whole step whole step whole step whole step whole step . And if you notice, an easy way I like to think of it, is it's three white keys, three black keys all the way up. Three whites. Three blacks. Three whites. Three blacks. And then, if you-- there's only one other formation of it, and that's if you were to say start from C#, you're going to have two black keys, four white keys, two black keys, four white keys. And it's going to sound the same way. So, that's why I say there's just two basic formations of it, like this and like that and they all consist of whole steps. So, if you ever forget what notes they are, just pick a note on the keyboard and go up or down in whole steps and you'll have that sound.


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