Whole-tone scale
The whole-tone scale consists only of whole-tone steps and so has six notes per octave. Because all the gaps are the same, no note stands out: there is no leading tone, no perfect fifth above the tonic and no tonal gradient.
- Notes per octave
- 6
- Step pattern
- 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1
- On C
- C–D–E–F♯–G♯–A♯
- Different scales
- only two (on C and on C♯)
- Sound
- floating, directionless
All steps equal
In a major scale whole tones and semitones alternate in a fixed order. That gives the scale its direction: the semitone B–C pulls to the tonic. The whole-tone scale forgoes this. It builds only whole-tone steps on one another and therefore arrives back at the starting note after six steps. There is no leading tone, no perfect fifth above the tonic and so no gradient.
Whole-tone scale on C
Six notes, every step a whole tone. Compare the major scale: there are two semitone steps (E–F and B–C). Here both are missing. The seventh note would be C again, so the scale closes after exactly six steps.
The second whole-tone scale, on C♯
There are no more than two different whole-tone scales: if you begin on D you get the same notes as on C. If you begin on D♭ (C♯) the other six semitone degrees follow.
The augmented triad from the scale
From its notes no major or minor triad can be formed, but the augmented one can: two major thirds on top of each other. It divides the octave into three equal parts and has no clear root.
In the glossary: Scale · Augmented triad · Semitone
Why it sounds so floating
From this evenness follows its peculiar sound: floating, directionless, without a point of rest. Any of its notes could count equally as a starting point. The augmented triad belongs with it because both rest on the same principle: formation from equal distances, called the distance principle in theory.
In the listening example C+ and E+ consist of the same notes (C–E–G♯ and E–G♯–B♯, where B♯ sounds like C); only the position differs. So only two different triads sound, and they are exactly the two contained in a whole-tone scale.
| Major | Whole-tone scale | |
|---|---|---|
| Notes per octave | 7 | 6 |
| Semitone steps | 2 (3–4 and 7–8) | none |
| Leading tone | yes | no |
| Tonic triad | major triad | augmented triad |
| Clear tonic | yes | no |
Only two whole-tone scales
It is remarkable that there are only two different whole-tone scales: one on C and one on C♯. Every further shift by a whole tone leads back to one of the two. In notation this inevitably raises enharmonic questions, because six equal steps cannot be shown without contradiction with seven letter names. In the scale on C you therefore find A♯ instead of B♭ or G♯ instead of A♭, depending on context. More under Enharmonic equivalence.
Where you hear it
The whole-tone scale was used above all in the music around 1900, when composers were looking for alternatives to functional harmony. It appears there as a static wash of sound, as a running figure and as a means of suspending tonal relations. It is closely tied to Impressionism.
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Related terms
ScaleAugmented triadSemitoneDistance principleImpressionismEnharmonic equivalenceChromaticism
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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