Piano scales

Scales source and guide for musicians

Dominant Diminished Scales (Diminished Blues)

The Dominant Diminished Scale consists of eight notes, and therefore belongs to the category of octatonic scales. It is also a so-called symmetrical scale since the intervals are consistent. The half tone, whole tone formula is consistent throughout the scale, for which reason it is sometimes called the Half-tone/Whole-tone Scale.

Notice that this scale is related to the Diminished Scale, and to that degree that different scales includes identical notes. This according to the pattern C Dominant Diminished has the same notes as C# Diminished, C# Dominant Diminished has the same notes as D Diminished and so on. The Dominant Diminished Scale is also referred to as the Diminished Blues and it shares many notes with the Pentatonic Blues scales.

Dominant Diminished Scales overview
C: C, Db, Eb, E, F#, G, A, Bb, C
C#/Db: C#, D, E, F, G, G#, A#, B, C# / Db, D, E, F, G, Ab, Bb, B, Db
D: D, Eb, F, F#, G#, A, B, C, D
D#/Eb: D#, E, F#, G, A, A#, C, C#, D# / Eb, E, Gb, G, A, Bb, C, Db, Eb
E: E, F, G, G#, A#, B, C#, D, E
F: F, Gb, G#, A, B, C, D, Eb, F
F#/Gb: F#, G, A, A#, C, C#, D#, E, F# / Gb, G, A, Bb, C, Db, Eb, E, Gb
G: G, Ab, A#, B, C#, D, E, F, G
G#/Ab: G#, A, B, C, D, D#, F, F#, G# / Ab, A, B, C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab
A: A, Bb, C, C#, Eb, E, F#, G, A
A#/Bb: A#, B, C#, D, E, F, G, G#, A# / Bb, B, Db, D, E, F, G, Ab, Bb
B: B, C, D, D#, F, F#, G#, A, B

Intervals: 1, b2, #2, 3, #4, 5, 6, b7
Semi-notes: 1 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 2
Formula: Half, Whole, Half, Whole, Half, Whole, Half, Whole