In music, a whole tone scale (set form 6-35, 02468t) is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole step. There are only two whole tone scales, both hexachords, each using half of the pitches in the chromatic scale: Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves structured and audible sound, though definitions vary. ... Musical set theory is an atonal or post-tonal method of musical analysis and composition which is based on explaining and proving musical phenomena, taken as sets and subsets, using mathematical rules and notation and using that information to gain insight to compositions or their creation. ... In music, a scale is a set of musical notes in order by pitch, either ascending or descending. ... In music theory, an interval is the relationship between two notes or pitches, the lower and higher members of the interval. ... The musical interval of a major second — also called a whole-tone — is the relationship between the first note (the root or tonic) and the second note in a major scale (and also a minor scale). ... In music, a hexachord is a collection of six tones. ... In music, pitch is the perception of the frequency of a note. ... The chromatic scale is the scale that contains all twelve pitches of the Western tempered scale. ...

• {C, D, E, F#, G#, A#}

• {B, Db, Eb, F, G, A}.

When one of these scales is played on a piano, starting from a low octave and moving up to a high octave, while at the same time pressing the sustain pedal, the result is a "dreamy" sound, such as are used in movies to signal the change from "reality" to a dream, or back from the dream to reality. This effect is especially emphasized by the fact that triads built on such scale tones are augmented. Indeed, one can play all six tones of a whole-tone scale simply with two augmented triads whose roots are a major second apart. Since they are symmetrical, whole tone scales do not give a strong impression of the tonic or tonality. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (947x76, 2 KB)Whole tone scale on C. Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (947x79, 2 KB)Whole tone scale on B. Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... A grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument, which is widely used in western music for solo performance, chamber music, and accompaniment, and also as a convenient aid to composing and rehearsal. ... Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes: The Dream, 1883 A girl sleeps in her bed, before reaching REM sleep. ... In general, an augmented chord is any chord which contains an augmented interval. ... Symmetry is a characteristic of geometrical shapes, equations and other objects; we say that such an object is symmetric with respect to a given operation if this operation, when applied to the object, does not appear to change it. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ...

Use of the melodic whole tone scale can be traced at least as far back as Mozart, in his Musical Joke, for strings and horns. In the 19th century Russian composers went further with melodic and harmonic possibilities of the scale, often to depict the ominous; consider the endings of the overtures to Glinka's opera Ruslan and Ludmila and Borodin's Prince Igor, the Commander's theme in Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest, and the opening theme of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade. Mozart drawing by Doris Stock, 1789 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. ... Divertimento for two horns and strings, A Musical Joke, (Ein Musikalischer Spaß,) K. 522 was published on June 14, 1787 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Overture is also a song by the rock band The Who Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening) in music is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral or, occasionally, instrumental composition. ... Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Михаи́л Ива́нович Гли́нка) (June 1, 1804 – February 15, 1857) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. ... Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила in Russian, Ruslan i Lyudmila in transliteration) is an opera in five acts by Mikhail Glinka to a Russian libretto by Valerian Fyodorovich Shirkov and Nestor Kukolnik, based on a poem by Aleksandr Pushkin. ... Portrait of Borodin Alexander Porfirevich Borodin (Александр Порфирьевич Бородин in Cyrillic, Aleksandr Porfirevič Borodin in transliteration) (31 Oct. ... Prince Igor (Князь Игорь in Russian, Knyaz Igor in transliteration) is an opera in a prologue and four acts by Alexander Borodin to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on the East Slavic epic The Tale of Igors Campaign. ... Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky (February 14, 1813 - May 17,1869) was a 19th century Russian composer. ... The Stone Guest (Kamennïy gost in transliteration) is an opera in three acts, left incomplete, by Alexander Dargomyzhsky to Russian libretto by Alexander Pushkin, using the story of the same name from his collection The Little Tragedies. ... Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6/18, 1844 – June 8/21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of harmony and orchestration. ... Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolai, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 18, 1844–June 21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of classical music particularly noted for his fine orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synaesthesia. ...

Claude Debussy, who had been influenced by Russians, along with other Impressionist composers made extensive use of whole tone scales. The whole tone scale was also used by Alban Berg in his Violin Concerto, and by Bela Bartók in his String Quartet No. 5. Ferruccio Busoni used the whole tone scale in the right hand part of the "Preludietto, Fughetta ed Esercizio" of his An die Jugend. Claude Debussy Achille-Claude Debussy () (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a composer of European classical music. ... The Impressionist movement in music is a movement in music loosely set between the late nineteenth century, up to the middle of the twentieth century. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9, 1885 – December 24, 1935) was an Austrian composer. ... Alban Bergs Violin Concerto was written in 1935 (the score is dated August 11, 1935). ... Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a composer, pianist and collector of East European folk music. ... The String Quartet No. ... Ferruccio Busoni Dante Michaelangelo Benvenuto Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... An die Jugend is a piece of classical music for solo piano by Ferruccio Busoni. ...

The whole tone scale is interval cycle 2, or C2. Since there are only two transpositions of the whole tone scale it is either C2⁰ or C2¹. The whole tone scale is also maximally even and may be considered a generated collection. In music, interval cycles, unfold a single recurrent interval in a series that closes with a return to the initial pitch class, and are notated by George Perle using the letter C, for cycle, with an interval class integer to distinguish the interval. ... In diatonic set theory maximal evenness is the quality of a collection or scale which for every generic interval there are is either one or two consecutive (adjacent) specific intervals, in other words a scale which is spread out as much as possible. ... In diatonic set theory a generated collection is a collection or scale formed by repeatedly adding a constant interval in integer notation, the generator, also known as an interval cycle, around the chromatic circle until a complete collection or scale is formed. ...

Most interesting, the raga Sahera in Hindustani music uses the same intervals as the whole-tone scale. Ustad Mehdi Hassan has performed this raga. Raga (rāg /राग (Hindi), raga (Anglicised from rāgaḥ/रागः (Sanskrit)) or rāgam /ராகம் (Tamil)) are the melodic modes used in Indian classical music. ... Hindustani (हिन्‍दुस्‍थानी) classical music is an Indian classical music tradition originating in the North of the Indian subcontinent circa the 13th and 14th centuries CE. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. ... Mehdi Hasan is a well-known Pakistani ghazal singer. ...