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D♭ messiaen's mode #5 Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Gb, G, Ab, C, Db, Ebb at frets 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10

A string: C, Db, Ebb, Gb, G, Ab at frets 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11

D string: Ebb, Gb, G, Ab, C, Db, Ebb at frets 0, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12

G string: G, Ab, C, Db, Ebb, Gb, G at frets 0, 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12

B string: C, Db, Ebb, Gb, G, Ab at frets 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

High E string: Gb, G, Ab, C, Db, Ebb at frets 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10

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Db 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:

D♭

I

E𝄫

bII

G♭

IV

G

#IV

A♭

V

C

VII

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

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

Capo fret 1 and the whole shape becomes C, so any fingering from that key drops straight in. Open D sounds Ebb, a minor second up. Lowest-numbered root is 2 on the B string, with the lowest-pitched one at 9 on the low E and another at 4 on the A. Box one opens at 9, which means the second shape waits until 13.

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