Whole Tone Resources

(Note: Midi files of many of the examples are included at this site. To learn how to play these files on your machine, go to Midi Setup.)

The whole-tone scale consists entirely of whole steps. It is a hexatonic (six-tone) scale; that is, six steps are required to fill in the octave.

• Example 1: Whole-tone Scale
• Example 2: Whole-tone Scale transposed
• Example 3: Diminished thirds in whole-tone passages
• Example 4: Violes (from Preludes for Piano)
• Example 5: Pattern Repetition

• Example 6: Roots in Augmented Triads
• Example 7: Whole Tone Dominant Ninth Chords
• Example 8: Chords Built by Scale Step Pattern

• Example 9: Whole-tone Chords in Griffes' White Peacock
• Example 10: Whole-tone Chords in Debussy's Violes
• Example 11: Whole-tone thematic protocells
• Example 12: Sample Whole-tone Passage
• Example 13: Sample Whole-tone Passage: