diatonic

: of, relating to, or being a musical scale (such as a major or minor scale) comprising intervals of five whole steps and two half steps.

through [whole] tones As others have mentioned, the word diatonic comes from ancient Greek music theory and literally means "through [whole] tones." Ancient Greek music tuned its scales using intervals of perfect fourths called tetrachords.

To take an example, look at a C major scale. This is a diatonic scale, which also happens to be an Ionian mode of C (Ionian is the first degree of modality). The sixth degree is an Aeolian mode, which starts on A in this case.

A diatonic scale is a seven note scale with a specific construction that includes five whole steps and two half steps in the defined order T-T-T-S-T-T-S: The simplest form of diatonic scale is the Major scale, or Ionian mode, that forms the basis of melodic and harmonic tradition in western music.

The difference between diatonic and chromatic scales comes down to the number of notes in the scale. While the diatonic scale uses only seven notes, the chromatic scale uses all 12 pitches, or note tones, in either ascending or descending order, separated by semitones.

The chromatic scale is the musical scale with twelve pitches that are a half step apart. Definition 1.2. A diatonic scale is a seven-note musical scale with 5 whole steps and 2 half steps, where the half steps have the maximum separation usually 2 or 3 notes apart.

The use of diatonic scales dates back to Ancient Greece, where it was one of three standard tunings, along with chromatic and enharmonic (the term “diatonic” means “through tones''), each based around a sequence of four notes called a tetrachord.

Diatonic scales have 7 notes. A pentatonic scale is a a diatonic scale that has two notes removed, using a the major scale as our basis we'd remove the 4th and 7th notes as they are only a half step from their neighbors and offer the most friction.

Any sequence of seven successive natural notes, such as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, and any transposition thereof, is a diatonic scale. Modern musical keyboards are designed so that the white-key notes form a diatonic scale, though transpositions of this diatonic scale require one or more black keys.

One of the best practical examples of a diatonic scale is the C major scale, which doesn't require sharps and flats. To play a diatonic scale, play all of the white notes, or white keys, on a piano keyboard: C D E F G A B. Musicians can apply this same pattern by transposition to any note to create a diatonic scale.

Definition 1.1. The chromatic scale is the musical scale with twelve pitches that are a half step apart. Definition 1.2. A diatonic scale is a seven-note musical scale with 5 whole steps and 2 half steps, where the half steps have the maximum separation usually 2 or 3 notes apart.

In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale.