STRINGSCALES

A ultralocrian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, Gb, A, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb at frets 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11

A string: A, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb, A at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12

D string: Eb, F, Gb, A, Bb, Cb, Db at frets 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11

G string: A, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb at frets 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11

B string: Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb, A, Bb, Cb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

High E string: F, Gb, A, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb at frets 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11

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A ultralocrian

The ultralocrian scale is the seventh mode of the harmonic minor scale: locrian with its 4th and 7th squeezed down further, leaving a diminished 7th chord spelled straight up the scale. Everything in it wants to collapse inward, which makes it a natural over diminished 7th chords and the darkest corners of metal and jazz vocabulary.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

A

I

C♭7no5/A
B♭

bii

B♭m
C♭

bbIII

C♭maj
D♭

bIV+

D♭aug
E♭

bv

E♭m
F

bVI

Fmaj♭5
G♭

bbVII

G♭maj

Characteristic note: Gb (bb7), the double-flat seventh that makes this the darkest mode of harmonic minor.

Same notes, different mode

A ultralocrian uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

Bb neapolitan minorCb lydian #6Db mixolydian augmentedEb romani minorF locrian dominantGb ionian major #2

ultralocrian in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Use A ultralocrian over a diminished 7th chord: the double-flat 7th (Gb) is the chord's own diminished 7th, spelled into the scale.
  • It is harmonic minor's seventh mode: play A a half step up in harmonic minor fingering and you are already here.
  • Everything wants to fall; resolve the whole line down a half step into the major or minor chord below.
  • For extreme metal color, pedal the open root against b2 (Bb), b4 (Db) and b5 (Eb); there is no darker mode in the harmonic minor family.

How to play A ultralocrian on guitar

Open A rings the root, and the open B slots in as Cb, so drone-plus-line textures start at fret zero. G string answers with a root at fret 2. Both E strings pick the root up again at fret 5, which means the E-shape barre frames the same spot. Harmony carries Bbm, Ebm, and Dbaug, and a functional dominant is nowhere in the set.

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