E half-whole diminished scale

8 notes · a ♭9, ♯9 and ♯11 over a natural 13

The same eight notes started a semitone lower, which turns it into a dominant scale: it holds the root, 3rd and ♭7 with the ♭9, ♯9 and ♯11, and unlike the altered scale it keeps the natural 13.

Heard in: Over a 7♭9 or 13♭9; Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Bond-film harmony.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of E half-whole diminished

The whole scale, with each note’s degree underneath it.

E
1
F
♭2
G
♭3
G#
3
A#
♯4
B
5
C#
6
D
♭7
3579121♭2♭33♯456♭7156♭71♭2♭33♯45♭33♯456♭71♭2♭3♭71♭2♭33♯456♭7♯456♭71♭2♭331♭2♭33♯456♭71
Twelve frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

Chords from E half-whole diminished

Every degree of this scale builds a diminished seventh, because the scale repeats every minor third. There are only three of these scales altogether, and each holds two diminished sevenths whose eight notes are the whole scale.

What to play E half-whole diminished over

The chords on E whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over E7b9 there is nothing in E half-whole diminished that can sound wrong.

E7b9E7#9Edim7Em6Em7Em7b5E6E7E7b5EEmEdim

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode