Symmetric ScalesDegree 1

Whole Tone

Iridescent fog — shifting pastels that blend into each other with no clear boundary. Like looking through frosted glass at colored lights.

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Scale NotesWhole Tone in C
C
D
E
F♯
G♯
B♭
Interval Formula
123♯4♯5♭7
Primary Chord
The tonic chord built from this mode
C7♯5

Chord Tones

CEG

All Diatonic Chords

C7♯5D7♯5E7♯5F♯7♯5G♯7♯5A♯7♯5
Chord Voicings
Guitar voicings for C7♯5
C7♯58Root, b7, 3, #5. The augmented dominant sound, tense and unresolved.
C7♯5Root, 3, ♭7, root, ♯5. Fuller augmented dominant voicing with ♯5 on top.
C7♯54Root, 3, ♭7, ♯5. Spread voicing on top four strings.
Fretboard

Whole Tone in C

123456789101112131415EADGBeEF♯G♯A♯CDEF♯A♯CDEF♯G♯A♯CDEF♯G♯A♯CDEG♯A♯CDEF♯G♯A♯CDEF♯G♯A♯CDEF♯G♯A♯CDEF♯
RootCharacteristic toneScale tone
Listen
Audio. Whole Tone in C
Tempo:
180 BPM

Musical Context

Related Chord Voicings
Extensions, substitutions, and simplifications for C7♯5

Simplified Voicings

Example Progressions
Progressions where Whole Tone applies (in C)
7♯5 Whole Tone Vamp

A dominant 7♯5 chord for whole tone exploration.

Practice in Play Along →
Arpeggio Connection
The arpeggio that matches the C7♯5 chord
Augmented Dominant 7th
C7♯5
Tones
C
R
E
3
G♯
#5
B♭
♭7
Highlighted = guide tones (define chord quality)

Sound

Dreamlike, suspended, and tonally weightless. The whole tone scale has no half steps, no leading tones, and no sense of gravity — it floats in a shimmering haze where every note is equidistant from its neighbors. It sounds like a musical question mark that never resolves.

Practical Use Cases

  • ●Over augmented dominant chords (7♯5)
  • ●Creating dreamlike, impressionistic textures
  • ●Film scoring for surreal or underwater scenes
  • ●Debussy-inspired classical and jazz improvisation
  • ●Transition passages where tonal ambiguity is desired

Practical Notes

There are only two whole tone scales in existence (C and D♭ — all others are transpositions of these two). This means any lick you learn works at six transposition levels. The whole tone scale is the standard choice over 7♯5 chords and works well over 7♯11 contexts too. On guitar, the fingering is extremely regular due to the equal intervals. The biggest challenge is making it sound musical rather than 'scaley' — use wide intervals, arpeggiate through the chord tones, and combine with chromatic approach notes. Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter used this scale with great effect by treating it as a color rather than a scale to run up and down.

symmetricdominantdreamyimpressionisticaugmented

Practice Drills

Ascending & Descending in One PositionBeginnerTechnique
5 min

Play the mode ascending and descending within a single five-fret box. Build muscle memory and connect the sound to the shape.

Three-Notes-Per-String PatternsIntermediateTechnique
10 min

Play the mode using three notes on every string, stretching across the neck. Great for building legato technique and hearing the scale in a linear way.

Emphasize Characteristic Tones on Strong BeatsIntermediateImprovisation
10 min

Create short melodic phrases that land the mode's characteristic tone(s) on beats 1 and 3. This trains you to bring out the sound that defines the mode.

Improvise Over a Matching ChordBeginnerImprovisation
5 min

Play the mode's parent chord as a loop (or use a backing track) and improvise over it for two minutes. This connects the mode to its harmonic context.

Create 3 Licks Using Only Strings 1–3IntermediateImprovisation
10 min

Compose three short licks (2–4 beats each) using only the top three strings. This forces creativity within a constraint and builds upper-register vocabulary.

Resolve from Tension to StabilityIntermediateEar Training
8 min

Practice approaching chord tones from a half step above or below, training your ear to hear tension resolve.

Try Whole Tone in Play Along

Practice improvising over real chord changes with guided scale and target note suggestions.

Related Modes

Lydian DominantLydian AugmentedAltered

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