D♭ diminished (half–whole)

D♭1E♭♭♭2F♭♭3F3G♯4A♭5B♭6C♭♭7

The same eight notes started a half step earlier: the scale that spells a dominant seventh with a flat ninth and a sharp ninth at once.

The same sounds spelled from the other side are C♯ diminished (half–whole).

on guitar on piano

Written out

Fig. 2 · Db diminished (half–whole), ascending

Every accidental is written in, rather than left to a key signature, so the letters can be read one at a time.

The step pattern

D♭HE♭♭WF♭HFWGHA♭WB♭HC♭WD♭

What is true of it

D♭ diminished (half–whole) is D♭, E♭♭, F♭, F, G, A♭, B♭ and C♭, and back to D♭.

Its steps are H – W – H – W – H – W – H – W, where W is a whole step and H a half.

Written correctly it needs 7 alterations, E♭♭ among them. That is what the letters force, and it is also why nobody writes music in this key: the same notes spelled from the other side are easier to read.

Across the first twelve frets of the ukulele its notes fall in 34 places, which is what makes a scale a shape rather than a list.

Chords made only of these notes

D♭major D♭mminor D♭dimdiminished D♭7dominant seventh D♭m7minor seventh D♭m7♭5half-diminished seventh Fdimdiminished Gmajor

Found by testing every chord in the catalogue against these 8 sounds, not chosen.

Other scales on D♭

D♭ whole tonesymmetric D♭ diminished (whole–half)symmetric D♭ majormajor D♭ natural minorminor D♭ harmonic minorminor

C dim H-W D dim H-W D♯ dim H-W E♭ dim H-W E dim H-W F dim H-W F♯ dim H-W G♭ dim H-W all 374