Chord Colors

E Ultra Locrian scale

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About the E Ultra Locrian scale

E 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 E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. The formula is H W H W W H 1½. It is the seventh mode of F Harmonic Minor.

Also called Altered Diminished.

In E Ultra Locrian, the open strings sound E and G. A guitarist finds the lowest E on the open low E string. A full root-to-root octave of this scale fits within the first three frets, so it has a real open-position box.

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.

E shapeopen
D shapefr 1
C shapefr 4
A shapefr 6
G shapefr 9
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 3
Shape 4fr 4
Shape 5fr 6
Shape 6fr 8
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 8
Position 7fr 9

Chords in the key of E Ultra Locrian

Expand a chord to see how to play it.

E diminished
Position 1 of 4
ii F minor
Position 1 of 4
iii° G diminished
Position 1 of 4
IV+ A flat augmented
Position 1 of 4
v B flat minor
Position 1 of 4
VI C
Position 1 of 4
VII D flat
Position 1 of 4

Seventh chords in E Ultra Locrian

The four-note version of each chord, richer and jazzier.

E diminished seven
Position 1 of 4
ii F minor major seven
Position 1 of 4
iii° G minor seven flat five
Position 1 of 4
IV+ A flat major seven sharp five
Position 1 of 4
v B flat minor seven
Position 1 of 4
VI C seven
Position 1 of 4
VII D flat major seven
Position 1 of 4

Notes and intervals

1EERoot
2FFMinor 2nd
3GGMinor 3rd
4AbA♭Diminished 4th
5BbB♭Diminished 5th
6CCMinor 6th
7DbD♭Diminished 7th
StepsH W H W W H 1½
Semitones1-2-1-2-2-1-3
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

Ultra Locrian in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

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E Ultra Locrian scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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