A pattern of notes, arranged in whole steps and half steps, that span an octave. A seven note scale made from a CYCLIC PERMUTATION of the MAJOR scale. A Whole Tone scale is composed by 6 notes in intervals of one whole step. The Hexatonic scales are those having 6 notes. SCALE- A pattern of notes, arranged in whole steps and half steps, that span an octave. In music and music theory, a hexatonic scale is a scale with six pitches or notes per octave. Next, the two most important types of hexatonic scales are described. And, particularly, in improvisation techniques. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Triad pairs can be derived from any traditional scale by pairing any two triads a step apart. which we could harmonize as: This combination gives us a soulful, gospel flavored sound. Beyond the realm of European music, hexatonic scales may contain unusually wide intervals, in which case they often are described as “gapped scales.” Hexatonic scales are especially common in the music of Native American peoples, notably those of the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest Coast regions. 23). Hexatonic scale, also called six-note scale or six-tone scale, musical scale containing six different tones within an octave.Using the syllables ut, re, me, fa, sol, and la to refer to the pitches, the 11th-century Italian theorist Guido d’Arezzo identified three hexatonic scales—which he called hexachords—built of whole- and half-step intervals. These scales are for obvious reasons perfect when playing blues on the piano. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/art/hexatonic-scale, Michigan Technological University - Hexatonic Scales. But there are other interesting possibilities: the blues scales, the whole tone scale, the augmented scale, the tritone scale and the elusive Prometheus scale. These two triads must be mutually exclusive. But we can also use six-tone or hexatonic patterns as a roadmap for introducing new phrasing ideas and quickly linking up different areas of the neck. Thus, for example, if we begin with note C, the following Whole Tone scale is obtained: Due to the existing symmetry in this scale, any of its notes can be considered the tonic. An Augmented scale contains 6 consonant chords, 3 Major and 3 minor, whose roots are the 3 possible tonics of this scale. In many cases we are simply adding a note to a pentatonic scale or deleting one from one of the seven modes. The hexatonic scales are six note scales. The act of using the same scale (collection of intervals in a given sequence) and creating another by starting the sequence on a note other than the given tonic. The only common Hexatonic (6-note) scales we find in modern western music are the blues scale and the "whole tone scale." In many cases we are simply adding a note to a pentatonic scale or deleting one from one of the seven modes. Let's listen! Adding a “blue note” to the regular Pentatonic Scale results in the Pentatonic Blues Scale. The same pattern repeats throughout. You can combine two triads (major, minor or any combination) and make a HEXATONIC scale. HEXATONIC SCALES AND THEIR ASSOCIATED CHORDS. MODE- A seven note scale made from a CYCLIC PERMUTATION of the MAJOR scale. We will also create some of our own by combining triads. Using the syllables ut, re, me, fa, sol, and la to refer to the pitches, the 11th-century Italian theorist Guido d’Arezzo identified three hexatonic scales—which he called hexachords—built of whole- and half-step intervals. Moreover, it contains every Dominant 7th chord with Augmented or diminished 5th, that is, the 7(5) and 7(5) chords, which are formed by considering any note of the scale as the root.