About the A flat Ultra Locrian scale
A flat Ultra Locrian is used for jazz over diminished dominant chords and extreme, dissonant writing. Think of it as the darkest locrian of all, lowered all the way to a double-flat seventh.
Its notes are A♭, B♭♭, C♭, D♭♭, E♭♭, F♭, and G♭♭. The formula is H W H W W H 1½. It is the seventh mode of B♭♭ Harmonic Minor.
Also called Altered Diminished.
In A♭ Ultra Locrian, the open strings sound E, A, D, and B. A guitarist finds the lowest A♭ at the 4th fret of the low E string. With a capo at the first fret, A♭ Ultra Locrian can be played with G-shape fingerings.
Positions
Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.
CAGED
Five shapes, each anchored to a chord form you already know, the pop and rock default that ties your scales to your chords. The outlined notes are that chord, so you can see the C, A, G, E, and D shapes inside the scale.
3NPS
3NPS stands for 3 notes per string. It lays the scale out in seven even shapes for rock and metal lead, and favors speed because the picking pattern stays consistent across every string.
7-position system
7 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.
Chords in the key of A flat Ultra Locrian
Expand a chord to see how to play it.
Seventh chords in A flat Ultra Locrian
The four-note version of each chord, richer and jazzier.
Notes and intervals
| 1 | AbA♭ | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | BbbB♭♭ | Minor 2nd |
| 3 | CbC♭ | Minor 3rd |
| 4 | DbbD♭♭ | Diminished 4th |
| 5 | EbbE♭♭ | Diminished 5th |
| 6 | FbF♭ | Minor 6th |
| 7 | GbbG♭♭ | Diminished 7th |
| Steps | H W H W W H 1½ |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 1-2-1-2-2-1-3 |
| Degrees | 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭♭7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Ultra Locrian in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.
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