Other Scales

In this article, we'll cover some more interesting scales that can be built with half steps and whole steps! Let's get into it!

What is the Chromatic Scale?

We actually already covered the chromatic scale, but we'll do so again here. A scale that contains only half steps is a chromatic scale. How many scale degrees are?

Well, if there's only half steps, then the number of scale degrees must be equal to the number of pitches in music: 12.

For example, an ascending C chromatic scale is the following:

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C.

A descending C chromatic scale is the following:

C B Bb A Ab G Gb F E Eb D Db C.

Here's an example of a piece that uses a chromatic scale:

The chromatic scale is often associated with silliness or child-like innocence (depending on the context!). For example, the Mario Bros. soundtrack is full of chromaticism.

What is the Whole Tone Scale?

So, we know we can make a scale with only half steps, but what about only whole steps? Well, you'd get the whole tone scale!

So, how many scale degrees are in a whole tone scale?

Let's find out by building one starting on C:

C D E F# G# A# C

We see there are 6 distinct pitches in a whole tone scale, which makes sense because that's half the amount as a chromatic scale.

How many distinct whole tone scales are there?

Well, we saw the one that started on C. What if we started on D?

D E F# G# A# C D

We see this one uses the same pitch collection as the previous one, and therefore we won't consider it another distinct scale. What if we started on a pitch not within this scale? How about C#?

C# D# F G A B C#

Now we see another distinct version of the whole tone scale. We know that if we start on any note of this scale, we can build another non-distinct scale. Thus, when we look at the two scales and see all of the pitches music, we can therefore say that there are only two distinct whole tone scales.

Let's formally name them. If the scale has C, then we can call it whole tone 0. If it has C#, we can call it whole tone 1.

What does the scale sound like?

Here's an example of it in action:

This example simply walks up the whole tone scale. As you can see, it is often used in "dream" sequences, where a character is falling asleep.

Can you identify another usage of the whole tone scale in the same video?

Answer: 6:02

What are the Pentatonic Scales?

What does the prefix 'penta-' mean? The answer is 5. So, what do you think this says about the 'pentatonic' scale?

If you said they have 5 notes, you're right!

But what are the notes in the scale? Well, it depends on the type of pentatonic scale. There are two types: major and minor. Let's consider the major version first. 

Specifically, let's first review the G major scale. Write it out before looking at it written out below.

Play this at a piano and sing it on a neutral syllable like 'la'. 

Now, play all of the notes at once on the piano. Sounds kind of harsh, right?

Well the reason for this harshness is because of a specific interval that occurs in the scale. An interval is the distance between two notes, and we'll go more in depth on these in the next article. But for now, consider the interval between the notes C and F#. How many half steps is this?

We call an interval of seven half steps a tritone. This interval doesn't sound very pleasant, and it's what's causing our harshness. Let's remove these two notes and play all the notes at once again: G A B D E G.

Sounds a lot nicer, right?

This is an example of a major pentatonic scale. Every major scale has a tritone between the 4th and 7th notes, and removing these notes will create the major pentatonic scale. Thus, we can think of the major pentatonic scale as a subset of the major scale with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes.

Note that when composing with this scale, you can write almost anything and it will sound good!

What about a minor pentatonic scale?

Well, let's look at G minor:

We can do the same procedure of removing the tritone, as we did in the major scale, in the minor scale. Where does the tritone appear in the minor scale?

If you said between the 2nd and 6th scale degrees (in this case, A and Eb), you are right!

Let's remove these notes and view the scale:

Thus, a minor pentatonic scale can be made with the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th of a minor scale.

Note that as with full major and minor scales, the modes of the pentatonic scales (major/minor) can be determined by the interval between the first note and the note a third above. If the scale is a major pentatonic scale, the note will be a major third above the first note (G to B). If it's a minor pentatonic scale, it will be a minor third (G to Bb).

Let's see these scales in action:

Listen to the violas, who have an ascending pentatonic scale. Is it major or minor? The excerpt from 1:25-1:35 uses the same scale.

In this case, the notes in the ascending line are B (from the basses) then C#, F#, and G#. That's only four notes! Yet, it still implies a B major pentatonic scale. Why? Well, if it was B minor pentatonic, the 2nd scale degree, C#, would not be included. And B is surely the tonic because the basses hold the note B throughout the opening.

How about an example of a minor pentatonic scale?

Since purely pentatonic works are often difficult to come by, this is an example of a work composed by David Bennet himself. Here the difference: the first sounds more 'major' than this one.

Practice

Identify each of these excerpts as using either chromatic, whole tone, major pentatonic, or minor pentatonic.

Now, listen to the following piece and identify which scales the denoted excerpts use (don't look at the scores unless you need to):

0:21-0:30

How is the cacophony from 1:43-2:16 created?