ArpeggiosEN

Scale

E ultralocrian

Harmonic minor modes

Formula
1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭♭7
Notes
E F G A♭ B♭ C D♭

Notation

441♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71

Fretboard — frets 0–24

E ultralocrian — frets 0 to 24, 87 notes, roots in orange1♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭31♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭7♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭41♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭710123456789101112131415161718192021222324
E ultralocrian — frets 0 to 24, 87 notes, roots in orange1♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭31♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭7♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭41♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭71♭2♭3♭4♭5♭6♭♭710123456789101112131415161718192021222324

Degrees

DegreeNoteIntervalSemitonesRole
1Eperfect unison0The root — the tonal centre every other note is heard against; land on it and the sound resolves.
♭2Fminor second1The minor second — a half-step above the root and the sharpest tension in the box; phrygian and the altered scale lean on it.
♭3Gminor third3The minor third — the dark counterpart of the major third; it turns a shape minor and colours m, m7 and the minor scales.
♭4A♭diminished fourth4The diminished fourth — a rare, crushed fourth; the altered scale and ultralocrian use it for maximum darkness.
♭5B♭diminished fifth6The diminished fifth — a flattened fifth that destabilises the chord; dim, m7♭5 and locrian are built on it.
♭6Cminor sixth8The minor sixth — the dark sixth of aeolian, harmonic minor and mixolydian ♭6; it adds a classical, mournful weight.
♭♭7D♭diminished seventh9The diminished seventh — the double-flat seventh of dim7; three minor thirds stack up and every note can act as a root.

About this scale

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.

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.