Octatonic scale scale" . The twelve tones of the chromatic scale are covered by three disjoint diminished seventh chords. The notes from two such seventh-chords combination form an octatonic collection. Because there are three ways to select two from three, there are three octatonic scales in the twelve-tone system. Each octatonic scale has exactly two modes: the first begins its ascent with a whole step, while the second begins its ascent with a half step (semitone). These modes are sometimes referred to as the "whole step/half-step diminished scale" and the "half-step/whole step diminished scale", respectively. Each of the three distinct scales can
Diatonic scale The pattern of elementary intervals forming the diatonic scale can be represented either by the letters T (Tone) and S (Semitone) respectively. With this abbreviation, major scale, for instance, can be represented as The major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth that duplicates the first an octave higher. The pattern of seven intervals separating the eight notes is T–T–S–T–T–T–S. In solfege, the syllables used to name each degree of the scale are "Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–Do". A sequence of successive natural notes starting from C is an example