A six-note scale in which each pitch is a whole tone apart from the next is the

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A six-note scale in which each pitch is a whole tone apart from the next is the

The scale is defined by equal whole-step jumps between consecutive notes, producing six distinct pitches per octave. This whole-tone pattern creates a hexatonic collection where each interval is the same size, so there are no semitones and no strong sense of a tonal center. An example starting on C would be C, D, E, F#, G#, A#, and back to C. Because every step is a whole tone, you don’t get the traditional major or minor triads that arise in diatonic scales, and the harmony tends to feel dreamlike or unsettled, a quality often heard in impressionist music. This sets it apart from scales that include semitones (chromatic), follow the W-W-H-W-W-W-H pattern (major), or use five notes (pentatonic).

The scale is defined by equal whole-step jumps between consecutive notes, producing six distinct pitches per octave. This whole-tone pattern creates a hexatonic collection where each interval is the same size, so there are no semitones and no strong sense of a tonal center. An example starting on C would be C, D, E, F#, G#, A#, and back to C. Because every step is a whole tone, you don’t get the traditional major or minor triads that arise in diatonic scales, and the harmony tends to feel dreamlike or unsettled, a quality often heard in impressionist music. This sets it apart from scales that include semitones (chromatic), follow the W-W-H-W-W-W-H pattern (major), or use five notes (pentatonic).

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