diminished scale
A symmetrical scale alternating whole and half steps, dividing the octave into repeating patterns
In Depth
The diminished scale (also called the octatonic scale) contains eight notes and comes in two forms: whole-half (W-H-W-H-W-H-W-H) and half-whole (H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W). Its symmetry means there are only three distinct diminished scales. The scale contains all the notes of two diminished seventh chords a half step apart. Rimsky-Korsakov used it extensively, and it became fundamental to jazz improvisation over diminished and dominant chords. Messiaen classified it as his second mode of limited transposition.
Rimsky-Korsakov used the diminished scale so extensively that in Russia it is simply called the Rimsky-Korsakov scale.