And in symmetric scales like this, you do not have to worry about whether you name your notes by sharps or flats. A prominent example of the whole-tone scale that made its way into pop music are bars three and four of the opening of Stevie Wonder's 1972 song "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".[21]. It’s all symmetric, so any kind of shape or pattern [playing: 5.47 to 5.49] that you like, you can move in multiples of the interval by which we are symmetric in, which is the whole tone or whole step! 43–44, in the bass, "while the melody moves down chromatically" (Leikin 2015, 128) Alexander Dargomyzhsky. In my book (Music Theory for the Bass Player) I describe the whole tone scale quite early on. If you start on the next semitone up (D flat) then you will play the scale … Piston (1987/1941), p.491. The fact that the chords and the scale don’t have any sense of resolution makes it difficult to listen to for long periods of time, like for a whole song. Again, we’re a couple pages in. The only other scale like this is the chromatic scale. The whole tone scale is the only scale that will yield a dominant 9th chord with and raised 5th as in C9#5. Remember, with your Bass Nation Membership you will have access to: Every Complete Lesson. 43–44, in the bass, "while the melody moves down chromatically" (Leikin 2015, 128) Alexander Dargomyzhsky. E Whole-tone scale . info)). Oliver Neighbor. Two mutually exclusive whole-tone scales are formed by choosing alternate notes of the chromatic scale (which has 12 notes per octave).Thus, the whole-tone scale comprises six degrees per octave. So I can go directly from [playing: 7.15 to 7.17] the G to the D-flat by using this [playing: 7.19 to 7.22] D-flat. Chords created by this scale (C whole tone): C7#5, C7b5, C9, C9#5, C9b5, C7#5(#11). The major scale is the ‘standard’ scale used in western music. It hence creates very pretty shapes on the fretboard and teaches us a whole (ha!) As always, the axe is strung with Dean Markley SR 2000s. For now let’s just say it’s a dominant sound, it’s a sound that has tension in its most basic form. Is it correct to think that the whole-half scale follows the same concept, except it applies to approaching the dim7 chord tones from a whole step below?---M-A's Comment: Absolutely. It’s a very distinctive sound that creates a blurred and eerie sound. So six notes for one scale, six notes for the other scale. Rated 5.0 out of 5 by 1 user. Unlimited access to 27000+ back issues: No contract or commitment. But the chord symbol of course will say one of those six notes. Finally, there is the #5, for chords such as a G7#5. The above sheet music and audio shows the 2 whole tone scales that are formed by starting on alternate notes of the chromatic scale. The whole-tone scale, consisting entirely of whole tones is in contradistinction to the chromatic scale (which consists entirely of half steps or semitones), as well as diatonic scales like the major and minor scales which consist of semitones and whole tones. The whole tone scale is easily recognizable for a few reasons. [22][citation needed][23] Gopriya is the corresponding Carnatic rāgam. Berg (1928), Sieben Fruhe Lieder, Wien, Universal Edition, Harrison, Max (1960) "Gil Evans: the Arranger as re-composer", article in, Wayne Shorter Jazz Play Along, Milwaukee,Hal Leonard, "Trinkle-Tinkle" from Cardenas, S. and Sickler, D. It comprises 7 notes (8 including the octave), spaced: whole tone, whole tone, semitone, whole tone, whole tone, whole tone, semitone. The whole tone is a type of hexatonic scale which means it only has six notes. Major and minor scales consists of 7 notes, while pentatonic scales are made of 5 notes. The interval between each note is the same. The other one is "Db, Eb, F, G, A, B". You have a lot of freedom in naming these notes in the symmetric scales. 12. The whole tone scale’s repeating interval is the whole step; it’s comprised solely of whole steps. Therefore a whole tone interval means skipping a fret.) Not so in other scales, but in the symmetric scales you do. However, the whole tone scale has 6 notes that are all a whole step apart, making its intervallic formula easy to remember - W-W-W-W-W-W. Major chords – do use use whole tone? Major chords – do use use whole tone? "The Whole Tone Scale" complete Watch Again Next Lesson This course is a comprehensive guide to arpeggios, chord tones and scales with a focus of cementing their relationships in a way that will make them instantly usable within any musical situation. (G-Ab is ok but G-G# is not.) ), Béla Bartók also uses whole-tone scales in his fifth string quartet. 20 Tips For Bass Players (Beginner/Intermediate) Read More. You need three strings to complete the major pentatonic scale, so start it on the E or A string. Whole Tone Scale The following diagram shows a common fingering for the C Whole […] Make a recording send it to me. A Whole-Tone Scale is a scale made entirely of whole-steps and has only six notes. one whole step, this scale doesn’t really have a beginning and an end. This is a major third and it’s two whole steps – we’ll get to that very soon. And today I’m signing off, Bass Bit #10. Whole tone scale = W-W-W-W-W-W (2-2-2-2-2-2) Whole-Half Diminished = W-H-W-H-W-H-W-H (2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1) Half-Whole Diminished = H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W (1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2) VERTICAL APPROACH. If you start on C and play a whole tone scale you will play the scale on the top line of music. And, then I also have an example of the G whole tone scale. 19, mm. In the last Bass Bit, I was talking about the chromatic scale and all the fun that can be had by just putting on a delay pedal and using that to practice your chromatic scale. It comprises 7 notes (8 including the octave), spaced: whole tone, whole tone, semitone, whole tone, whole tone, whole tone, semitone. The whole-tone scale only has 6 notes (the 7th note would be the doubled root in the top octave). We will get to the tri-tone, but it’s just, instead of moving something up 1, 2 whole steps, I’m moving it up 3 whole steps [playing: 7.12] and that gives me the D-flat. That’s some weird stuff. In this weeks lesson I cover the wholetone scale. Bass Guitar Scales pdf FREE DOWNLOAD Bass Scales are successions of notes with a relationship between them and it is necessary, for any instrument, to know and master them.. This… Top Picks. The whole tone scale has some pretty cool shapes in it. A: Much of what goes into deciding what scale to use over any given chord is all about the context (what chords are surrounding it, how is it functioning harmonically, etc.) There are the ones that contain these six notes [playing: 2.48 to 2.51] and then there are the ones that contain the other six notes. Whole tone scales have an tonally ambiguous sound that can sound quite ‘out of place’ if used to improvise with in standard rock and pop songs (though you shouldn’t let that stop you trying!). It makes no sense because now I’m at the octave so can I just say E (please!) It’s the completely opposite of a chromatic scale– which is made up entirely of half step intervals (semitones). This issue of xxxxxxxxxxx. Mike Become A Bass Nation Member Today! Play the whole tone scale over this progression, and then try to improvise over it. WS and HS refer to how many frets there are between each scale degree. Whole Tone Scales. Use each letter name only once in each scale. The whole tone scale is a very educational scale because it is the easiest of all the symmetric scales. A whole tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole step.There are only two complementary whole tone scales. lot about: the symmetry of the bass … The natural 13 tends to clash with the #5 in the whole tone scale, so if I want a more "colorful" sound on a 13 chord, I'll usually play dominant-diminished or lydian b7. The major scale is built with the whole-step and half-step series: W W H W W W H. A half-step occurs between the 3rd and 4th notes of the scale, and again between the 7th and octave root of the scale. Often times on a G7#5 you can substitute the altered scale. by: Anonymous . The easiest way to use a whole tone scale musically, for me, is to play any whole tone lick (e.g. Author SdTuEoVlEcN [a] 396. It’s made up entirely of whole step intervals (tones). Difficulty: intermediate. And it has a sharp 5, and the sharp 5 is an interval that we will get to also. In the case of this scale, a 1/2 step interval followed by a whole step interval. You can also use a background track or pop it into iReal Pro and just jam with that sound. I can move it up by a major second or by multiples thereof, which would mean [playing: 6.35 to 6.52] two major seconds! In contrast to the chromatic scale, the whole-tone scale is entirely built on whole steps (or a staircase containing only large steps), resulting in a shorter scale length than the major, minor, and chromatic scales. A vast number of jazz tunes, including many standards, use augmented chords and their corresponding scales as well, usually to create tension in turnarounds or as a substitute for a dominant seventh chord. Whole Tone Scale Construction Last article, we learned what symmetric scales are. Take a pad and a paper and write a whole tone pattern up, in that you make dots everywhere on the fret board where the whole tone scale would be. Bass Bit #10! This issue of xxxxxxxxxxx. It is entirely made up of whole-steps: W-W-W-W-W-W. It comprises 17 different scale types in all 12 key s, over one and two octaves . And then find shapes within that and move them around. So instead of playing by, like, up a whole step, I can play it up a major third. Once again, I like to put on the delay pedal and then just have myself a good old time [playing: 6.01 to 6.24]. And in the book on page 28, on the bottom, you see examples of two whole tone scales written out in scores and in tab which gives you one octave of an E whole tone scale [playing: 1.41] and I will play that for you with the fingering that I have in the book. E-flat Whole-tone scale . or a jazz minor? I’d love to see it, hear it. (On the bass … (eds. Check this out: It’s also an interesting fingering exercise. So that’s one way to think about it. Prelude No. F-sharp Whole-tone scale . It’s also an interesting fingering exercise. We are a participant in the Avangate Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program for Transcribe. Because it would be [playing: 3.35 to 3.44] E, F#, G#, A#, B#, Cx (double sharp) and then Dx. D Whole-tone scale . There are thus only 12/6 or 2 different whole tone scales. On top of page 29, you see a dot [playing: 4.03 to 4.10] diagram that details how to finger the whole tone scale. Besides a #5, a whole tone scale … Since all the distances between the notes are the same, i.e. Minor scales – do use use dorian? 18: Whole Tone (English Edition) eBook: Sadi, Kamel: Amazon.com.mx: Tienda Kindle Rated 5.0 out of 5 by 1 user. Minor Pentatonic and Blues Scale And the scale that starts with E [playing 3.11 to 3.12] has the same notes than the scale that start with F# has the [playing 3.16]  same notes that starts with G#. C Whole-tone scale . Bass Nation Forums. Unlimited access to 27000+ back issues: No contract or commitment. Dominant Diminished Scale (Half/Whole) The following diagram shows a common fingering for the C […] In this lesson, we use the letter S for semitone and T for tone. The Whole Tone Scale (a.k.a. And you can also, Once again, I like to put on the delay pedal and then just have myself a good old time, Another interval by which the whole tone scale is symmetric through multiplication would be the so called tri-tone, Music Theory Wall Chart for the Bass Player, How to Use The Wall Chart: Tips and Tutorials, The Course: Get a Solid Technique and Music Theory Foundation, Ear Confidence – 6 Paths to Fearless Ears, Ways to Study With Ari: Products and More, Music Theory for the Bass Player Wall Chart, it helps to understand the interval of major seconds and how major seconds are laid out on the bass, it is a symmetric scale, so the shape is very accessible, there are lots of fun shapes within that scale, once you find a fun lick you can easily shift it up or down without having to worry about “wrong notes”. And when you go down, you go, 4,2 scoot 1, 4,2 scoot 1, 4,2 scoot 1, 4,2 go back. Frederic Chopin. The fact that the chords and the scale don’t have any sense of resolution makes it difficult to listen to for long periods of time, like for a whole song. Thank you for checking it out and for commenting! So it’s a geeky and really fun scale. I’d love it if you could record yourself a little bit playing around with some of these concepts. Whole tone scale Whole Tone Scale For Guitar Whole Tone Scale Theory. [playing: 2.36 to 2.40] So that’s of relevance because my first note will then be E that I’m playing (on beat one of the bar). It can be transcribed to any key, with the above interval pattern adhered to. And now here I’m turning around already coz I’m just doing it for one octave, and then I’m going all the way back down again. This interesting piece from Debussy I think is one of the best examples of the whole tone scale in classical music. Play the whole tone scale over this progression, and then try to improvise over it. This stands for whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step half step. A whole tone scale is a type of scale where each note is an interval of a tone (whole step) apart. Whole tone scales are quite rare in music but there are some examples that are worth checking out. I designed these graphics to be my personal tell-all for the Whole Tone Scale. A whole tone scale (sometimes known as the symmetrical scale) is a hexatonic scalewhich means that it uses only six notes. It has a distinctive sound that these genres are famous for. There are really only two whole tone scales. A: Much of what goes into deciding what scale to use over any given chord is all about the context (what chords are surrounding it, how is it functioning harmonically, etc.) The whole tone scale has some pretty cool shapes in it. In 1958, Gil Evans recorded an arrangement that gives striking coloration to the "abrupt whole-tone lines"[16] of Redman's original. As its name suggests, a whole-tone scale is simply a series of notes a tone apart – there are no other intervals (such as a semitone, or minor third) between the notes, and every note in the scale can be considered to be its root. In ours concretely, they will allow us to create bass lines or to improvise in an efficient way. And again, the sound that we’re having when we’re using it, is a dominant chord with a sharp 5 in it; and if that doesn’t mean anything to you, don’t worry about it. As a bass player, you may or may not need to worry about applying the harmonic minor scale in the same way as a soloist. 707-280-1270. Full Modes Series. ‘Double Bass Scales: The Play-Along Collection’ is a digital sheet music and backing track package written by Geoff Chalmers, the founder of Discover Double Bass. F Whole-tone scale . We’ll get to all of that later. Monk's "Four in One" (1948)[19] and "Trinkle-Tinkle" (1952)[20] are fine examples of this. "The Childhood of the Whole-Tone Scale", p.17-19. That’s some weird stuff. Check this out: [playing: 5.09 to 5.12]  2,4,1,3, 2,4,1,3. The Stone Guest, passage from Act 3 (Andrews 2001) It hence creates very pretty shapes on the fretboard and teaches us a whole (ha!) The whole tone scale’s repeating interval is the whole step; it’s comprised solely of whole steps. Bass Gear; Get free bass lessons sent straight to your inbox (+ FREE ebook). Q: So, do you play whole tone scales over the ?5, and altered scales over the dominant chords. The Whole Tone scale exists with two sets of notes: You can look at these patterns in the book with the dots and find patterns within that. A major scale is formed with the formula W-W-H-W-W-W-H. In my book (Music Theory for the Bass Player) I describe the whole tone scale quite early on. Then you go like that and then flip that around. The major scale is the ‘standard’ scale used in western music. And today, we’re going to do something similar with the scale that is made up out of all whole steps. Frederic Chopin. The Whole Tone Scale Examples of the Whole Tone Scale. Whole tone scale = W-W-W-W-W-W (2-2-2-2-2-2) Whole-Half Diminished = W-H-W-H-W-H-W-H (2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1) Half-Whole Diminished = H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W (1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2) VERTICAL APPROACH. So that would be another way to build a whole tone scale over two octaves. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or hexatonic scales: The Whole Tone Scale: Is used over augmented chords or as a substitute over dominant chordsCan only be transposed onceC2 0C2 1… Jazz walking bass lines lesson showing the use of the whole tone scale when constructing walking jazz bass lines over jazz standard chord progressions. ‘Double Bass Scales: The Play-Along Collection’ is a digital sheet music and backing track package written by Geoff Chalmers, the founder of Discover Double Bass. one whole step, this scale doesn’t really have a beginning and an end. "The Evolution of Twelve-Note Music", p.56. The whole tone scale is a very educational scale because it is the easiest of all the symmetric scales. In this video I am playing my Marleaux Consat bass by Gerald Marleaux. For instance a G7 augmented 5th dominant chord in which G altered scale tones would work before resolving to C7, a tritone substitution chord such as D♭9 or D♭7♯11 is often used in which D♭/G whole tone scale tones will work, the sharpened 11th degree being a G and the flattened 7th being a C♭, the enharmonic equivalent of B, the major third in the G dominant chord. Major and minor scales consists of 7 notes, while pentatonic scales are made of 5 notes. Tones and Semitones in a Minor Scale The pattern for a whole-tone scale is easy to remember because it consists only of whole-steps (W): ), List of pieces which use the whole tone scale, The Whole Tone Scale and Applications for Jazz Guitar, List of intervals in 5-limit just intonation, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whole_tone_scale&oldid=992187153, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 December 2020, at 23:35. An die Jugend for piano, the right hand part of the "Preludietto, Fughetta ed Esercizio" is based on the whole tone scale (Stuckenschmidt 1970, 109). ... ← Major Inversions Lesson. Home > Symmetric Scales > Whole-Tone Scale > B Whole-Tone Scale Follow along with the fingerings in the book and then use this material to make hip music with it. The rāga Sahera in Hindustani classical music uses the same intervals as the whole-tone scale. I designed these graphics to be my personal tell-all for the Whole Tone Scale. It’s the complete opposite of the chromatic scale where every note is a semitone tone apart. The whole tone scale has a major 3rd and minor 7th, thereby making it appropriate over dominant 7th chords. Bass Scales Vol. We talked about how the diminished scale is a part of this group. 19, mm. There are only two complementary whole tone scales. Minor scales – do use use dorian? Whole tone scales are often used in jazz, and can be used to play over augmented and augmented 7th chords such as G+, or G7+. However, the whole tone scale has 6 notes that are all a whole step apart, making its intervallic formula easy to remember - W-W-W-W-W-W. Bass Scales Chart: Major Scale Patterns. Sherry, thank you, this is great to hear! Today, it’s still all about seconds, but today it’s about the, And in the book on page 28, on the bottom, you see examples of two whole tone scales written out in scores and in tab which gives you one octave of an E whole tone scale, And, then I also have an example of the G whole tone scale. The major scale uses a combination of whole- and half-steps. All other notes are a whole-step apart. That’s not the whole scale – we’re missing a note in it – but if you wanted to improvise in it, or have some fun with it [playing: 5.18 to 5.22], then that’s kind of a cool shape to mess with. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. you know. It is built from only whole steps. "The Whole-Tone Scale in Russian Music", p.602. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. There are really only two whole tone scales. A whole tone is the same as two steps on the keyboard – a half tone is consequently one step. Dominant Diminished Scale (Half/Whole) The following diagram shows a common fingering for the C […] Send me my free book. Scott Thune's bass on that section is all augmented arpeggios and whole tone scale fragments.. maybe worth a listen for a bass application of the whole tone in rock n roll Jan 10, 2005 #7 Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam This is just to say it has a lot of tension and it also has some sort of openness to it so if you’re looking to hear the sound of the whole tone scale, you probably know the Stevie Wonder song “You Are The Sunshine of My Life”, in the intro of that, Stevie plays the whole tone scale. It is built from only whole steps. Whole Tone, Half Tone, Whole Tone, Whole Tone, Whole Tone, Half Tone, Whole Tone. WS = Whole Step (2 frets distance) HS = Half-Step (1 fret distance) Let’s see what this looks like in a guitar scales chart: As you can see, each of these notes has a number, but no note attached to it. The whole-tone scale, consisting entirely of whole tones is in contradistinction to the chromatic scale (which consists entirely of half steps or semitones), as well as diatonic scales like the major and minor scales which consist of semitones and whole tones. See, I can come up with any shape that’s within my scale and then move that up in multiples of the interval by which I’m symmetric in in this symmetric scale. C-sharp Whole-tone scale . Gb-Ab is a tone; Eb-F is a tone; There are many types of musical scale. In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone.