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

Low E string: F, F#, G, B, C, Db at frets 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

A string: B, C, Db, F, F#, G at frets 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10

D string: F, F#, G, B, C, Db at frets 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11

G string: G, B, C, Db, F, F#, G at frets 0, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12

B string: B, C, Db, F, F#, G, B at frets 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12

High E string: F, F#, G, B, C, Db at frets 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

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C 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:

C

I

D♭

bII

F

IV

F♯

#IV

G

V

B

VII

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

tip
  • Six notes on C, two chromatic clusters a tritone apart: root, b2 (Db), IV and their mirror #4 (F#), 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 (F#)) 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 C messiaen's mode #5 on guitar

Open G gives the fifth and open B the major seventh, so a two-string drone is on tap with nothing fretted at all. Roots turn up at 1 on the B, 3 on the A, 5 on the G and 8 on both E strings. Symmetry here is total, meaning the identical fingering 6 semitones up gives Gb. One sharp in the signature.

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