STRINGSCALES

D messiaen's mode #7 Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F, G, G#, A, Bb, B, C#, D, Eb, E at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12

A string: A, Bb, B, C#, D, Eb, E, F, G, G#, A at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

D string: D, Eb, E, F, G, G#, A, Bb, B, C#, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

G string: G, G#, A, Bb, B, C#, D, Eb, E, F, G at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12

B string: B, C#, D, Eb, E, F, G, G#, A, Bb, B at frets 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

High E string: E, F, G, G#, A, Bb, B, C#, D, Eb, E at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12

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D messiaen's mode #7

Messiaen's mode 7 is the largest mode of limited transposition: ten notes, leaving out just one whole-step pair per tritone half. It is nearly chromatic, with symmetry at the tritone and only six distinct transpositions. In practice it works as organized chromaticism: dense clusters and runs that still obey an internal pattern rather than free atonality.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

D

I

E♭

bII

E

II

F

bIII

G

IV

G♯

#IV

A

V

B♭

bVI

B

VI

C♯

VII

messiaen's mode #7 in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Ten notes from D: think of it as the chromatic scale with one whole-step gap per tritone half; the gaps define it, so phrase around them.
  • Its symmetry at the tritone (Ab) gives structure to near-chromatic runs: mirror each gesture six frets away.
  • Use it as organized chromaticism for climaxes: scale-wise motion reads as intent where free chromatics read as noise.
  • Extract subsets: any five adjacent tones give a dense cluster scale; contrast two subsets from opposite tritone halves.

How to play D messiaen's mode #7 on guitar

All six open strings fall inside this key, with open D as the root, so whole-guitar drones cost nothing. Both E strings sound the major second, A the fifth, G the fourth, and B the major sixth, with nearby roots at fret 3 on the B string and fret 5 on the A string. Shapes here reappear unchanged with Ab as tonic, six semitones away, which means practice transfers automatically. Box one stretches to fret 14.

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