In
music, a whole tone scale is a
scale in which each
note is separated from its neighbours by the
interval of a
whole step. There are only two whole tone scales, both six-note or
hexatonic scales:{C, D, E, F#, G#, A#, C}{B, Db, Eb, F, G, A, B}. When one of these scales is played on a
piano or especially a
harp, starting from a low octave and moving up to a high octave, while at the same time pressing the sustain pedal, the result is a "
dreamy" sound, such as are used in movies to signal the change from "reality" to a dream, or back from the dream to reality. This effect is especially emphasized by the fact that
triads built on such scale tones are
augmented. Indeed, one can play all six tones of a whole-tone scale simply with two augmented triads whose roots are a major second apart. Since they are
symmetrical, whole tone scales do not give a strong impression of the
tonic or tonality.
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