Diminished (whole-half) scale in C on ukulele
Diminished (whole-half) scale in C: C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bbb and B, the degrees 1–2–b3–4–b5–b6–bb7–7. The box shown is in open position, from the open strings up to fret 4; the lowest tonic sits on the 3rd string, open, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On the ukulele, the high reentrant G reshuffles the pattern — the scale climbs and falls in compact regions. Its soft nylon strings sound warm and mellow, light enough to float gently over a song.
Climb it slowly and name each degree out loud before speeding up.
Text description
Open strings and frets 1 to 4, 4 strings. Root (C): string 3 open and string 1, fret 3.
- String 4 (G): fret 1, A flat, flat sixth, finger 1; fret 2, B double flat, double-flat seventh, finger 2; fret 4, B, seventh, finger 4
- String 3 (C): open, C, root; fret 2, D, second, finger 2; fret 3, E flat, flat third, finger 3
- String 2 (E): fret 1, F, fourth, finger 1; fret 2, G flat, flat fifth, finger 2; fret 4, A flat, flat sixth, finger 4
- String 1 (A): open, B double flat, double-flat seventh; fret 2, B, seventh, finger 2; fret 3, C, root, finger 3
In the diagram, each dot carries its scale degree; 1 is the tonic, highlighted.
See the full explanation of the diminished (whole-half) scale →