STRINGSCALES

D♭ messiaen's mode #3 Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, F, G, Ab, Bbb, Cb, C, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

A string: Bbb, Cb, C, Db, Eb, Fb, F, G, Ab, Bbb at frets 0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

D string: Eb, Fb, F, G, Ab, Bbb, Cb, C, Db at frets 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11

G string: G, Ab, Bbb, Cb, C, Db, Eb, Fb, F, G at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12

B string: Cb, C, Db, Eb, Fb, F, G, Ab, Bbb, Cb at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12

High E string: Fb, F, G, Ab, Bbb, Cb, C, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

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Db messiaen's mode #3

Messiaen's mode 3 is a nine note mode of limited transposition: whole step, half, half, repeated three times. Built from three augmented-triad axes filled in with half steps, it only has four distinct transpositions before repeating itself. Messiaen used its dense, stained-glass harmony throughout his organ and orchestral music; guitarists can mine it for symmetrical runs that never settle into a key.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

D♭

I

E♭

II

F♭

bIII

F

III

G

#IV

A♭

V

B𝄫

bVI

C♭

bVII

C

VII

messiaen's mode #3 in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Learn Db Messiaen mode 3 as the repeating cell whole-half-half, three times per octave; the cell, not the scale, is the practice unit.
  • It has only four distinct transpositions, so a lick moved up a major 3rd lands in the same collection: instant sequences.
  • Built on three augmented axes: arpeggiate the augmented triad on Db and its neighbors, connecting them by half step for idiomatic lines.
  • Use it for dense, stained-glass chords: stack any four or five adjacent scale tones and the harmony is already Messiaen.

How to play D♭ messiaen's mode #3 on guitar

Capo at fret 1 and this becomes C fingering, which lets every shape you already own transfer intact. Five open strings fall in the scale, yet none of them is the root or the fifth, so they serve as colour tones instead of a pedal. Open G lands an augmented fourth above the tonic. Lowest root sits at fret 9 on the low E, and fret 2 on the B string is the one nearest the nut. Box one from fret 9 closes at fret 13, so the shift to the next shape happens there.

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