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A messiaen's mode #5 Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, G#, A, Bb, D, D#, E at frets 0, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12

A string: A, Bb, D, D#, E, G#, A at frets 0, 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12

D string: D, D#, E, G#, A, Bb, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12

G string: G#, A, Bb, D, D#, E at frets 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

B string: D, D#, E, G#, A, Bb at frets 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11

High E string: E, G#, A, Bb, D, D#, E at frets 0, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12

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A messiaen's mode #5

Messiaen's mode 5 is the smallest of Messiaen's modes: six notes in the pattern half step, major 3rd, half step, repeated, with the tritone as its axis of symmetry. It contains two chromatic clusters a tritone apart and nothing in between, more a sonority than a melody source. Composers use it for static, bell-like harmonic fields.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

A

I

B♭

bII

D

IV

D♯

#IV

E

V

G♯

VII

messiaen's mode #5 in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Six notes on A, two chromatic clusters a tritone apart: root, b2 (Bb), IV and their mirror #4 (D#), V, VII.
  • Treat it as harmony, not melody: sustain cluster voicings (root-b2 together, or IV-#4) for bell-like fields.
  • The tritone (root to #4 (D#)) is the axis: phrases that swap the two clusters across it sound composed rather than random.
  • Use long decay: let notes overlap on separate strings; struck as chords it shimmers, run as a scale it stumbles.

How to play A messiaen's mode #5 on guitar

Open A is a root, both E strings the fifth and open D the fourth, so four open strings ring in support. Apart from that open A, the closest fretted root is 2 on the G, then 5 on both E strings and 7 on the D. Lowest-pitched root sits at 5. Symmetric layout puts the same fingering 6 semitones up on Eb, which lets one map cover two tonics.

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