The Whole Tone Scale

The Whole tone scale as the name implies is made up of whole steps. This is a really interesting and beautiful six note scale that all guitarists should know.

Because of the symmetrical nature of the scale it only has two real positions on the guitar neck making it very easy to learn and remember. The nature of the scale lends itself to licks based on repeating patterns.

The most common use for the scale is in playing over altered dominant chords. The scale is made up of the following intervals

1, 2, 3, #4, #5, b7

In the key of C this would translate as

C, D, E, F#, G#, Bb

Because of the symmetrical nature of this scale it translates really well onto the fretboard meaning you should be able to learn the sound of this one pretty quickly.

The whole tone scale

Exercise 1

Typically it would be used over altered dominant chords to create an altered sound or over augmented chords. Within this scale we can see an augmented arpeggio. Seeing smaller sub structures within scales like this can create some really interesting lines. Luckily for guitarists this is a really easy scale to get the hang of due to its symmetrical nature. The pattern for this scale repeats itself across the neck. Use this scale when you want to create some really exotic sounding lines.

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

In exercise 3 we can see the augmented arpeggio in action in this repeating sequence. The whole tone scale is ideal for licks like this using repeating patterns.

Try coming up with your own sequences. Thats it for this lesson. Have fun with this unusual scale.