Diminished Scale Piano Reference With Notes & Intervals

🎹 The octatonic scale, also known as the diminished scale, the whole-half scale or the symmetric diminished scale, is a symmetrical 8-note scale. The diminished scale consists of an alternating pattern of whole tones and half tones.

The scale is built upon two diminished 7th chords, similar to how the augmented scale is built upon two augmented triads.

Here you'll find an interactive piano reference for the octatonic scale with notes on the piano keyboard, intervals and scale formula.

You may also want to check out the half whole diminished scale, which is a similar scale that's instead built with alternating half tones and whole tones.

Diminished Scale Intervals

The intervals of the diminished scale are:

Diminished Scale Formula

The formula for the diminished scale is: W, h, W, h, W, h, W, h

W: Whole step, h: Half step (semitone)

Diminished Scales Note Chart

	C
	C♯
	D
	D♯
	E
	F
	F♯
	G
	G♯
	A
	A♯
	B

And now here are interactive piano keyboard layouts, one for each key, where you can hear the diminished scales being played up and down:

C Diminished Scale

notes:

C♯ Diminished Scale

notes:

D Diminished Scale

notes:

D♯ Diminished Scale

notes:

E Diminished Scale

notes:

F Diminished Scale

notes:

F♯ Diminished Scale

notes:

G Diminished Scale

notes:

G♯ Diminished Scale

notes:

A Diminished Scale

notes:

A♯ Diminished Scale

notes:

B Diminished Scale

notes:

Piano Samples

The piano samples used for this diminished scale reference are from “Salamander Grand Piano V3” by Alexander Holm, licensed under CC BY 3.0.