D# Altered Guitar Scale

6-string guitar  ·  Mode VII mel.  ·  7 notes  ·  minor family

Notes

D♯
E
F♯
F♯♯
A
B
C♯

Solfège : Ré♯ – Mi – Fa♯ – Fa♯♯ – La – Si – Do♯

Interval Structure

D♯ ½T E T F♯ ½T F♯♯ T A T B T C♯ D♯+oct. T

Scale Chords (triads)

DegreeChord (in D#)Quality
D♯° diminished
ii Em minor
iii F♯m minor
IV+ F♯♯+ augmented
V A Major
VI B Major
vii° C♯° diminished

About this scale

The altered scale (superlocrian) contains all altered tensions: b9, #9, b5, #5. On guitar, it is the scale for the most expressive V7alt→i resolutions in jazz. John Scofield, Pat Metheny, and Mike Stern use it over altered dominants to create maximum tension before resolution in minor.

See fretboard positions for D# Altered on guitar in the interactive app.

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Same scale in other keys