Piano scales

Scales source and guide for musicians

Dominant Diminished Scale (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 (see interval pattern below). The half tone, whole tone formula is consistent throughout the scale, for which reason it is sometimes called the Half-Whole Diminished Scale or Half-tone/Whole-tone Scale.

Notice that this musical scale is related to the Diminished Scale, and to the extent that they share the same notes. This according to the pattern that 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 shares many notes with the Pentatonic Blues Scale.

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