Chord Colors

D♯ Diminished Half-Whole scale

About the D sharp Diminished Half-Whole scale

D sharp Diminished Half-Whole is used for jazz improvisation over dominant seventh chords. Think of it as the diminished scale starting with a half step, tailor made for dominant chords.

Its notes are D, E, F, G, A, A, B, and C. The formula is H W H W H W H W. It is the second mode of C Diminished.

Also called Symmetric Diminished and Dominant Diminished.

Learn more about the D♯ Diminished Half-Whole scale

Four of the notes in D Diminished Half-Whole are black keys, D, F, A, and C. Its raised fourth lands on the white key A.

Notes and intervals

1D#D♯Root
2EEMinor 2nd
3F#F♯Minor 3rd
4GGMajor 3rd
5AAAugmented 4th
6A#A♯Perfect 5th
7B#B♯Major 6th
8C#C♯Minor 7th
StepsH W H W H W H W
Semitones1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2
Degrees1 2 3 3 4 5 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

Diminished Half-Whole in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

Eb Diminished Half-Whole scale on piano shown as colored note dots
Chord Colors

There's so much more to explore

Explore on the go. Over 150 chord progressions, modal mixture, build your own progressions, and more!

Try web version iOS app
Chord Colors on iPhone showing chords, guitar voicings, progressions, and scales