Knowra Diatonic scale Diatonic scale A seven-note scale built from five whole steps and two half steps arranged in a characteristic pattern. Its notes form the basis of major and natural minor scales.
Whole tone : An interval spanning two semitones, such as C to D. Five whole steps occur in every diatonic scale’s octave pattern.
Major scale : A seven-note scale with the interval pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. It is the most familiar diatonic pattern and a reference for the others.
Chromatic scale : A twelve-note scale containing every pitch class in an octave of Western music. Unlike a diatonic scale, it includes all semitone steps rather than selecting seven notes.
Pythagorean tuning : A tuning system that derives pitches from repeated perfect fifths and their octave equivalents. Its fifth-based construction shaped early accounts of seven-note pitch collections.
Functional harmony : A system in which chords have directional roles defined by their relationship to a tonic. Diatonic chords supply the standard tonic, predominant, and dominant functions.
Semitone : The smallest interval in common Western equal-tempered tuning, spanning one hundred cents. The two semitones distinguish diatonic patterns from scales made entirely of whole tones.
Natural minor scale : A seven-note scale with the interval pattern whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. It shares the diatonic collection while placing its half steps differently from major.
Pentatonic scale : A scale containing five distinct notes per octave. Its five-note collection omits two pitches present in a diatonic scale.
Guido of Arezzo : An eleventh-century music theorist credited with influential methods of musical instruction and notation. His teaching system helped establish the familiar seven-note solmization framework.
Diatonic transposition : Moving a musical passage to another scale position while preserving its diatonic relationships. Transposition carries a passage’s scale-degree pattern into another key.
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