STRINGSCALES

C♯ ultralocrian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, G, A, Bb, C#, D, Eb at frets 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11

A string: A, Bb, C#, D, Eb, F, G, A at frets 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12

D string: D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, C#, D at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12

G string: G, A, Bb, C#, D, Eb, F, G at frets 0, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12

B string: C#, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb at frets 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11

High E string: F, G, A, Bb, C#, D, Eb at frets 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11

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C# 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:

C♯

I

E♭7no5/C#
D

bii

Dm
E♭

bbIII

E♭maj
F

bIV+

Faug
G

bv

Gm
A

bVI

Amaj♭5
B♭

bbVII

B♭maj

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

Same notes, different mode

C# 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.

D neapolitan minorEb lydian #6F mixolydian augmentedG romani minorA locrian dominantBb ionian major #2

ultralocrian in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Use C# ultralocrian over a diminished 7th chord: the double-flat 7th (Bb) is the chord's own diminished 7th, spelled into the scale.
  • It is harmonic minor's seventh mode: play C# 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 (D), b4 (F) and b5 (G); there is no darker mode in the harmonic minor family.

How to play C♯ ultralocrian on guitar

Capo at fret 1 turns this into plain C fingering, which means one fret of hardware removes most of the reading load. Open A, D, and G sit inside the scale at the minor sixth, minor second, and diminished fifth. Harmony offers Dm, Faug, and Gm without a functional dominant anywhere, so resolution has to come from voice motion instead. Nearest root: fret 2, B string.

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