D# Leading Whole Tone Guitar Scale
Guitar scale in Double Drop D tuning — fretboard diagram
D# Leading Whole Tone in Double Drop D — Notes and Intervals
The D# Leading Whole Tone scale is a symmetrical scale that combines the weightless blur of the whole-tone system with a final bit of traditional resolution tension. On Guitar, its notes are D#, F, G, A, B, C#, D. It is used to create a sense of floating that eventually finds a home. Commonly used in Impressionist, Film Scores, Jazz. Notable players include Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel. Use as a transition device or over augmented chords that need to resolve. The leading tone provides a gentle gravitational pull absent in pure whole tone.
Notes: D#, F, G, A, B, C#, D
Intervals: 1P, 2M, 3M, 4A, 5A, 7m, 7M
Degrees: 1 2 3 #4 #5 b6 7
Formula: W-W-W-W-W-H-H
Number of notes: 7
Tuning: Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)
About Double Drop D Tuning
Double Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) lowers both the 6th and 1st strings from E to D, creating a symmetrical frame of D notes around the standard middle four strings. This gives a distinctly resonant, jangly character that has been beloved in folk-rock and acoustic music since the late 1960s.
Neil Young used Double Drop D extensively — 'Cinnamon Girl' features its distinctive droning riff, and 'The Needle and the Damage Done' showcases its intimate fingerpicking potential. Jimmy Page used it on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'. Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' also employs this tuning. Because only two strings change (both by just one whole step), Double Drop D is one of the easiest alternate tunings to learn — most standard chord shapes on the inner four strings remain unchanged.
Notable artists: Neil Young, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Best for: Folk-rock songwriting, D-centric acoustic arrangements, droning fingerpicking patterns, and any song that benefits from rich D-string resonance on both outer strings
Musical Character
Combines the weightless blur of the whole-tone scale with a final half-step that provides just enough resolution tension — floating that eventually finds a home.
Explore This Scale in Other Tunings
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Standard Tuning
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Drop D
- D# Leading Whole Tone in DADGAD
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Open G
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Baritone (B Standard)
- D# Leading Whole Tone in 7-string
- D# Leading Whole Tone in 8-string
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Drop C
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Drop B
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Open D
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Half Step Down
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Open E
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Open A
- D# Leading Whole Tone in Open C