Chord Colors

C♯ Whole Tone scale
PianoGuitar

About the C sharp Whole Tone scale

C sharp Whole Tone is used for dream sequences, impressionist music and solos over dominant chords. Think of it as a scale of nothing but whole steps, floating with no clear home. It is C♯ Prometheus with the sixth lowered.

Its notes are C♯, D♯, E♯, G, A, and B. The formula is W W W W W W.

Also called Auxiliary Augmented and Messiaen Mode 1.

Learn more about the C♯ Whole Tone scale

C♯ Whole Tone uses two black keys on the piano, C♯ and D♯. Notably, the raised fourth falls on the white key G. The key includes a stretch of four consecutive white keys.

Notes and intervals

1C#C♯Root
2D#D♯Major 2nd
3E#E♯Major 3rd
4GGAugmented 4th
5AAMinor 6th
6BBMinor 7th
StepsW W W W W W
Semitones2-2-2-2-2-2
Degrees1 2 3 ♯4 ♭6 ♭7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Whole Tone in other keys

C Whole Tone scaleD Whole Tone scaleD sharp Whole Tone scaleE Whole Tone scaleF Whole Tone scaleF sharp Whole Tone scaleG Whole Tone scaleG sharp Whole Tone scaleA Whole Tone scaleA sharp Whole Tone scaleB Whole Tone scale

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Db Whole Tone scale on piano shown as colored note dots
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