Whole Tone Music

[poopcola]

Hey folks,

Just curious to see if anyone has some tips on writing using the whole tone scale. I'm aware the theory behind it etc, just more interested to find out how its being used by different people and in what sort of application.

Thanking you in anticipation.

21/12/2012

[nuffink]

As a chord scale it's commonly used over dominant 7ths which are altered by having no 5th, a flattened 5th or a sharpened 5th. It's, less commonly, used over augmented triads and augmented 7ths.

[ckatrun411]

The whole tone scale is considered " the dream scale " personally I think it kinda blows. its used by some jazz folk, classical. Its got a very airy feel to it, and it works best with sus 4 and add 9 nines....

[jancivil]

I think it wears thin pretty quickly even in a master's hands; I would tend to use it very briefly as a contrast of color, compared with a denser row of tones, like to contrast with a symmetrical diminished octatonic, or more 'chromatic' texture.

OR, compare with this: lydian with flat 7

D E F# G# A B C;

elide A & B with the Bb...

was a thing Zappa did a lot in the 80's in solos.. zig-zagging the 2nds and thirds, esp in descending lines.


Parallel vertical structures: G# > D > F#, move horizontally by whole tones/maj 3rds for that Debussyan meandering color thing

hard to avoid cliche here, tho

[VicDiesel]

more interested to find out how its being used by different people and in what sort of application.

Debussy used it left and right. Check out his preludes. I believe the second one is more or less whole tone throughout.

dig dig dig

Yep. I knew I had the sheet music. First book, number 2: Voiles. Four pages of pretty much whole tone music throughout.

Victor.

[poopcola]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!!!

Cheers,

[tee boy]

Hey folks,

Just curious to see if anyone has some tips on writing using the whole tone scale. I'm aware the theory behind it etc, just more interested to find out how its being used by different people and in what sort of application.

Thanking you in anticipation.

21/12/2012

Rimsky Korsakov would use this and the octatonic collection when he wanted to portray the supernatural in his operas. In contrast, he'd use diatonic pitch material for more 'earthly' situations and characters.

You see, these scales, being symetrical, have no tonal center. This is what gives them their vague character. I think that they are best used when wanting to create a mood which is disorientating in someway.

Try listening to Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Stravinsky, etc, for tips of using symetrical scales.

TB

[Km7]

Yeah, being symmetrical, which results in augmented chords, and lacking the fifth, there is no tendency to a certain degree and therefore no clear tonal center in this scale, which gives it this dream-like quality because, well.. just as in a dream, things aren't so clear. However, you can suggest such a feeling to a certain degree if one of the tones is more prominent - if it appears more frequently and with longer values. In one of my tracks, I use it for color melodically over a pedal point. You could even try using it contrapuntaly.

[tee boy]

Yeah, being symmetrical, which results in augmented chords, and lacking the fifth, there is no tendency to a certain degree and therefore no clear tonal center in this scale, which gives it this dream-like quality because, well.. just as in a dream, things aren't so clear. However, you can suggest such a feeling to a certain degree if one of the tones is more prominent - if it appears more frequently and with longer values. In one of my tracks, I use it for color melodically over a pedal point. You could even try using it contrapuntaly.

You can also substitute the function of modulate with semi tone shifts into the various transposition of the scale. Scriabin did this in his octatonic sonata. Its an interesting way to replace the tonic dominant contrast of the more traditional sonata.

For instance, you could give a certain theme to one transposition, then a completely different one to the next. Maybe go with the traditional one fast, one slow? One loud, one soft?

But the greatest advice I can think of would be to use these scales with care! I think they can be over used. Personally, I prefer them for effect. For instance, I really like to put the occassional octatonic passage into works when I need that indefinate building of tension... where the symetrical nature of the scale means that it can kee going and going and going... sounds really really good!

There is a very earlier example of what i mean in Chopin Op 10 No 9. But you can take this idea far further.

TB