The D Half-Whole Diminished scale contains 8 notes: D, Es, F, Ges, As, A, H, C.
The half-whole diminished scale alternates half steps and whole steps across eight notes. It supplies the flat ninth, sharp ninth, sharp eleventh and thirteenth over a dominant chord, which makes it the standard altered dominant sound in jazz.
D Half-Whole Diminished is a scale, not a key. It has no key signature of its own — music that uses it is normally written in the key signature of its parent scale, with any extra accidentals added as they occur.
| Trin | Node | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | P1 | 0 |
| 2 | Es | m2 | 1 |
| 3 | F | m3 | 3 |
| 4 | Ges | M3 | 4 |
| 5 | As | TT | 6 |
| 6 | A | P5 | 7 |
| 7 | H | M6 | 9 |
| 8 | C | m7 | 10 |
Every scale type that starts on D, for comparison.
The D Half-Whole Diminished scale has 8 notes: D, Es, F, Ges, As, A, H, C.
The D Half-Whole Diminished scale follows the step pattern H–W–H–W–H–W–H–W, where H is a half step and W is a whole step.