STRINGSCALES

E messiaen's mode #3 Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F#, G, G#, A#, B, C, D, D#, E at frets 0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

A string: A#, B, C, D, D#, E, F#, G, G# at frets 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11

D string: D, D#, E, F#, G, G#, A#, B, C, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12

G string: G, G#, A#, B, C, D, D#, E, F#, G at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

B string: B, C, D, D#, E, F#, G, G#, A#, B at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

High E string: E, F#, G, G#, A#, B, C, D, D#, E at frets 0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

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E 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:

E

I

F♯

II

G

bIII

G♯

III

A♯

#IV

B

V

C

bVI

D

bVII

D♯

VII

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

tip
  • Learn E 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 E 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 E messiaen's mode #3 on guitar

Both E strings give the root open and the open B supplies the fifth, so a pedal tone costs no fingers. Open position doubles as box one, which means fret 4 is where the first shape stops and the next begins. Higher roots wait at fret 2 on the D string, fret 5 on the B, fret 7 on the A and fret 9 on the G. Four sharps in the signature.

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