STRINGSCALES

D ultralocrian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, D, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

A string: Bb, Cb, D, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab at frets 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11

D string: D, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12

G string: Ab, Bb, Cb, D, Eb, Fb, Gb at frets 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11

B string: Cb, D, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb at frets 0, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12

High E string: Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, D, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

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D 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:

D

I

F♭7no5/D
E♭

bii

E♭m
F♭

bbIII

F♭maj
G♭

bIV+

G♭aug
A♭

bv

A♭m
B♭

bVI

B♭majb5
C♭

bbVII

C♭maj

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

Same notes, different mode

D 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.

Eb neapolitan minorFb lydian #6Gb mixolydian augmentedAb romani minorBb locrian dominantCb ionian major #2

ultralocrian in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

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

How to play D ultralocrian on guitar

Open D lands square on the root, so the whole key can hang off a free drone. Both E strings and the B stay in the scale as Fb and Cb. Diatonic harmony includes Ebm, Gbaug, and Abm, but no functional dominant, which means tension has to resolve sideways rather than by a five chord. Same shape spells Eb neapolitan minor one semitone higher.

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