G# Altered Guitar Scale

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

Notes

G♯
A
B
B♯
D
E
F♯

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

Interval Structure

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

Scale Chords (triads)

DegreeChord (in G#)Quality
G♯° diminished
ii Am minor
iii Bm minor
IV+ B♯+ augmented
V D Major
VI E Major
vii° F♯° 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 G# Altered on guitar in the interactive app.

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Same scale in other keys