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Diatonic scale

In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale. This pattern ensures that, in a diatonic scale spanning more than one octave, all the half steps are maximally separated from each other (i.e. separated by at least two whole steps).

The seven pitches of any diatonic scale can also be obtained by using a chain of six perfect fifths. For instance, the seven natural pitch classes that form the C-major scale can be obtained from a stack of perfect fifths starting from F:


Any sequence of seven successive natural notes, such as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, and any transposition thereof, is a diatonic scale. Modern musical keyboards are designed so that the white-key notes form a diatonic scale, though transpositions of this diatonic scale require one or more black keys. A diatonic scale can be also described as two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. In musical set theory, Allen Forte classifies diatonic scales as set form 7–35.


The term diatonic originally referred to the diatonic genus, one of the three genera of the ancient Greeks, and comes from Ancient Greek: διατονικός, romanizeddiatonikós, of uncertain etymology. Most likely, it refers to the intervals being "stretched out" in that tuning, in contrast to the other two genera (chromatic and enharmonic).


This article does not concern alternative seven-note scales such as the harmonic minor or the melodic minor which, although sometimes called "diatonic", do not fulfill the condition of maximal separation of the semitones indicated above.

improving the consonances, mainly the thirds, by providing a major third on each degree;

allowing all twelve transpositions described above;

and helping musicians to find their bearings on the keyboard.

Circle of fifths text table

Diatonic and chromatic

History of music

Musical acoustics

Piano key frequencies

Prehistoric music

Clough, John (1979). "Aspects of Diatonic Sets", 23:45–61.

Journal of Music Theory

Franklin, John C. (2002). "", Mnemosyne 56.1:669–702

Diatonic Music in Greece: a Reassessment of its Antiquity

Gould, Mark (2000). "Balzano and Zweifel: Another Look at Generalised Diatonic Scales", 38/2:88–105

Perspectives of New Music

Ellen Hickmann, Anne D. Kilmer and Ricardo Eichmann, (ed.) Studies in Music Archaeology III, 2001, VML Verlag Marie Leidorf, Germany  3-89646-640-2.

ISBN

Johnson, Timothy (2003). Foundations of Diatonic Theory: A Mathematically Based Approach to Music Fundamentals. Key College Publishing.  1-930190-80-8.

ISBN

Kilmer, A. D. (1971) "The Discovery of an Ancient Mesopotamian Theory of Music'". 115:131–149.

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society

Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn; Crocker, Richard L.; Brown, Robert R.: Sounds from Silence: Recent Discoveries in Ancient Near Eastern Music, Volume 1. 1976, Bit Enki Publications, Berkeley, California.  463314183

OCLC

Archived 9 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Eric Weisstein's Treasure Trove of Music

Diatonic Scale

The diatonic scale on the guitar