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August 9, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 7 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 8/9/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

What kind of scale produces both an A-flat dominant seventh chord and a B half-diminished chord (B minor seventh-flat fifth). Hint: add all the notes together!

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, August 13th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 8/9/21

This is the OCTATONIC scale, also called the half step/whole step diminished scale. It’s built from alternating half steps and whole steps, for a total of eight different pitches within the octave:

This scale opens up harmonic avenues that are not possible with diatonic major or minor scales. Here are the chords from this week’s theory challenge:

The 20th Century French composer Olivier Messiaen called this scale a mode of limited transposition. Unlike major or minor scales, it can only be transposed a limited number of times before you end up with the exact same pitches. Major and minor scales can be transposed to every one of the twelve chromatic pitches within the octave, each giving a different set of notes. But the half-whole-half octatonic can only be transposed three times before all the pitches repeat. So the octatonic scale above, starting on B, has the same pitches as the ones starting on D, F, and A-flat. Notice those four starting notes–B, D, F, A-flat–spell out a diminished seventh chord, a harmony readily available in the octatonic scale.

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Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: breakingbarlines, chords, classicalmusic, harmony, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, scales

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Comments

  1. Christopher Mish says

    August 9, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    Altered dominant scale

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      August 9, 2021 at 6:05 pm

      It does start out like an altered dominant scale, but this one is symmetrical, with alternating whole and half steps throughout…I’ve said too much already 🙂

      Reply
    • Christopher Mish says

      August 10, 2021 at 9:57 am

      Yeah. I know the scale just not what it’s called. half-step/whole-step/half-step/whole-step etc…….I used to call it the Dizzy Gillespie scale…..

      Reply
      • Aron Bernstein says

        August 10, 2021 at 10:16 am

        Add some upper extensions to the chords and you get some great jazz progressions from this scale!

        Reply
  2. David says

    August 10, 2021 at 6:19 am

    An octotonic scale! I kind of remember this from theory. Didn’t discuss it much

    Reply
  3. Martin Forrester says

    August 12, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    Half-whole diminished scale

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      August 13, 2021 at 8:51 am

      Absolutemento! Also known as the octatonic scale.

      Reply

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