how to apply the whole tone scale?

[djangology]

i was wondering if anyone was willing to give any advice on applying the whole tone scale to solos? is it useful over ANY chord because its symmetric or is it most appropriate only at certain times?

 

i never come out happy when i try to use this scale and i cant figure out why. mabye someone could suggest a more creative pattern than the standard diagonal pattern that most theory books suggest? ive tried both the diagonal 3-notes to a string and also the 2-note to a string version...

 

i want to be able to use this scale with taste, if i can ever figure it out. :-)

[Sputnik]

For me it's easiest to try new things out over the familiar blues progression.

 

In an F Blues try using B Whole Tone in the 4th measure resolving it to one of the Bb7 chord tones in the 5th measure so

B WholeTone (B Db Eb F G A) to Bb7 (Bb D F Ab)

 

You can use BWT again in the 8th measure going to the C7 in the 9th measure.

 

In the 12th measure try the Gb Whole tone resolving back to the F7 in measure 1.

 

I like the two note per string form for the WT, as the notes slide right into the dom7 form you are going to resolve it to.

 

This is the way I play with things, it works for me, give it a try it may help you too.

Obviously you can take this way further but this is just to start.

[Mr.Hanky]

I can't really answer that question BUT I do want to point out that there are really only 2 whole tone scales, this one and the other one.

 

Basically since it is a "synthetic" scale it follows a simple set pattern of all whole steps. So you can either start on F or F#, any note can be considered the root.

 

Example..

 

Start on F...(F G A B C# D#....F)

Start on F# ( F# G# A# C D E ...F#)

 

So as you can see regardless of the note you start on you will end up in one of the two scales. I prefer this one over that one

 

Try playing them in thirds, neet sound. There are also a few kewl patterns of whole tone out there. I wish I knew more applied examples of this scale. Maybe someone here can shed some light.

 

MH

[lazaraga]

listen to thelonious monk.

 

whole tone scales are mainly used to give a feeling of ambiguity, of suspended tonality.

 

they can resolve anywhere with a half step. good for blues.

 

the cliched dream sound, what they play on tv when someone has a dream, is the whole tone scale. stevie wonder plays a whole tone scale as the intro to "you are the sunshine of my life"

 

 

 

peace

[motherlode]

Many years ago, the Bass players back home use to play a wholetone scale under 'Giant Steps'...it goes like this...play B A G F (2 beats each) then Eb D (4 beats each), that's the first 4 bars...then play G F Eb Db (2 beats each) then B Bb ( 4 beats each), there you have it, TWO wholescales down the front eight, and play ii-V up the back eight...16 bars...'Giant Steps', different uh?

[555]

Whole tone scales work over an augmented chord. Since an augmented chord can be named from any note within it, and there's only two whole tone scales, it's easy to match one to the other.

[djangology]

thanks for all your answers! they are great. :-) i had heard that the whole tone is best over "altered chords"? also, i think what you meant by "synthetic" is actually "symmetric". i don't believe that describing a scale as "synthetic" makes much sense...

 

for the record, i have got something out of this because i realized that there is one chromatic scale, 2 whole tone scales, 3 diminished scales, and 4 augmented scales? sorta useful to me when i think of it that way... in degrees of specificity. :-)

[Bb7b9#13]

i use them over a dom7#5 or dom7#11

 

i prefer to you other scales because i can't hear any melodies out of the symmetrical scales

[Terje]

 

Originally posted by Sputnik For me it's easiest to try new things out over the familiar blues progression. In an F Blues try using B Whole Tone in the 4th measure resolving it to one of the Bb7 chord tones in the 5th measure so B WholeTone (B Db Eb F G A) to Bb7 (Bb D F Ab) You can use BWT again in the 8th measure going to the C7 in the 9th measure. In the 12th measure try the Gb Whole tone resolving back to the F7 in measure 1. I like the two note per string form for the WT, as the notes slide right into the dom7 form you are going to resolve it to. This is the way I play with things, it works for me, give it a try it may help you too. Obviously you can take this way further but this is just to start.

 

 

Need to try this.

[djangology]

i've now been experimenting lately with using the whole tone scales to "travel" to different positions on the fingerboard. for example, ill play a diminished run ending on the high e string and start at that same note and play back down using the whole tone scale to a new starting position where i will start another diminished run and then return with a whole tone scale again. this works great as an exercise and sounds ok when soloing.

[Poparad]

A whole tone scale will work anywhere that has tension, or right before anywhere that there's supposed to be release.

 

As you said, you are using it to travel to new positions on the fretboard... You can employ the whole tone scale to great effect in at the end of a phrase to really give a forward push into the next chord, and the beginning of a new phrase. Take this progression, which is really quite arbitrary:

 

| Em7 | A7 | Dm7 | G7 || Cmaj7 |

 

I put a double bar before the Cmaj7 since that's the end of the phrase and also the point where the harmonic motion resolves and comes to a rest. Anywhere along that progression you can begin to use the whole tone scale, or chromatic, or diminished, or whatever, and when you reach the Cmaj7, since everything is resolving at that point, you can resolve to an inside sounding scale. By doing this you created some tension and forward motion that really drives home the resolution to the last chord.

 

You can even do it over something like this:

 

| Dm7 | Dm7 | Dm7 | Dm7 || Dm7 |

 

Even though it's all the same chord, you can play the whole tone scale over the last of the 4 bars of the phrase, and then resolve to a normal D minor scale (aeolian, dorian, whatever your preference). This is a great way to add interest to a rather dull harmonic setting.

 

The whole tone scale creates an ambiguity in tonality, since the notes are all the same distance apart. The scale has a sound that everything is temporarily suspended and just floats. By then following that with a traditional scale over the chords, you can create a huge harmonic contrast that is really tasty to the listener.

[bassmantele]

 

Originally posted by djangology i think what you meant by "synthetic" is actually "symmetric". i don't believe that describing a scale as "synthetic" makes much sense... :-)

 

 

Synthetic, as opposed to derived. Many scales are derived from major or minor tonality. The whole tone is built by interval, so it's "made up" rather than taken from a "natural" source. So it's both symmetric and synthetic.

[Cpdr]

If you want to hear some great whole tone app.s listen to some early John McLaughlin stuff like Inner Mounting Flame or some of the acoustic albums he did not long after.

[djangology]

thanks to all!

 

your comment about using the whole tone scale as a tension device just opened a new window for me to experiment with. previously, i have been always using the min7b5 or diminished scales for that device, and having the whole tone as an option makes it interesting. i cant wait to experiement.

 

also, thanks for the listening suggestion on John McGloughlin... :-)