ArpeggiosEN

Scale quality

ultralocrian

Ultralocrian is the seventh degree of harmonic minor and the most extreme scale in the dictionary: locrian with a diminished fourth and a double-flat seventh on top of the flat second and flat fifth. Nearly every degree is lowered, so the scale has almost no stable anchor and sounds like a descent into tension. It is the scale of the dim7 chord in a harmonic minor context, and jazz players use it over altered diminished sounds where maximum instability is wanted. The double-flat seventh is enharmonically the major sixth, which adds a strange brightness at the bottom. Listen for how every step seems to pull downward.

Formula
1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭♭7
Notes
C♯ D E F G A B♭
Family
Harmonic minor modes

Notation in C♯

representative key
441♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71

Fretboard — frets 0–12

C♯ ultralocrian — frets 0 to 12, 47 notes, roots in orange♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭31♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭7♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭30123456789101112
C♯ ultralocrian — frets 0 to 12, 47 notes, roots in orange♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭31♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭7♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭30123456789101112

All 17 keys

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Same family

How to practise this scale

  • Play the double-flat seventh and hear the strange brightness it adds.
  • Improvise over a dim7 chord and let every phrase descend.
  • Compare it with locrian and hear the fourth and seventh lower again.
  • Play the scale slowly and name each degree as it falls.