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F messiaen's mode #5 Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F, Gb, Bb, B, C, E at frets 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12

A string: Bb, B, C, E, F, Gb at frets 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9

D string: E, F, Gb, Bb, B, C at frets 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10

G string: Bb, B, C, E, F, Gb at frets 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11

B string: B, C, E, F, Gb, Bb, B at frets 0, 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12

High E string: E, F, Gb, Bb, B, C, E at frets 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12

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F 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:

F

I

G♭

bII

B♭

IV

B

#IV

C

V

E

VII

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

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

Roots sit at fret 1 on both E strings, 3 on the D and 6 on the B, so box one hugs the nut. Those same open E strings sound the major seventh and the open B an augmented fourth. Neither is the root or the fifth, so an open pedal is not on offer. Clamp fret 1 for the E fingerings.

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