Chord Colors

A♯ Dorian b2 #4 scale

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About the A sharp Dorian b2 #4 scale

A sharp Dorian b2 #4 is used for jazz and film music that wants an unusual minor color. Think of it as a minor scale with a flat second and a raised fourth.

Its notes are A, B, C, D♯♯, E, F♯♯, and G. The formula is H W 1½ H W H W. It is the fourth mode of E Harmonic Minor 5.

Also called Shadvidhamargini.

This mode shares E, G, and B with the guitar's open strings. Down at the 1st fret of the A string lies the lowest A a guitar can play. Capo the first fret to play A Dorian 2 4 with A-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.

A shapeopen
G shapefr 3
E shapefr 5
D shapefr 7
C shapefr 10
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.

Shape 2fr 1
Shape 3fr 2
Shape 4fr 4
Shape 5fr 6
Shape 6fr 7
Shape 7fr 9
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.

Position 1open
Position 2fr 1
Position 3fr 3
Position 4fr 4
Position 5fr 6
Position 6fr 7
Position 7fr 9

Notes and intervals

1A#A♯Root
2BBMinor 2nd
3C#C♯Minor 3rd
4D##D♯♯Augmented 4th
5E#E♯Perfect 5th
6F##F♯♯Major 6th
7G#G♯Minor 7th
StepsH W 1½ H W H W
Semitones1-2-3-1-2-1-2
Degrees1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Dorian b2 #4 in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

Bb Dorian b2 #4 scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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