Altered (super-Locrian) scale in G# on electric guitar
Altered (super-Locrian) scale in G#: G#, A, B, C, D, E and F#, the degrees 1–b2–b3–b4–b5–b6–b7. The box shown is in open position, from the open strings up to fret 4; the lowest tonic sits on the 6th string, fret 4, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On electric guitar, the slimmer neck invites legato — the same fingering runs with less effort, and the high positions stay comfortable. Plugged into an amp, each chord sustains for as long as you hold it, and the tone — clean or driven — shapes the whole sound.
Practice it tonic to tonic: hearing degree 1 at both ends anchors the scale's sound.
Text description
Open strings and frets 1 to 4, 6 strings. Root (G sharp): string 6, fret 4, string 3, fret 1 and string 1, fret 4.
- String 6 (E): open, E, flat sixth; fret 2, F sharp, flat seventh, finger 2; fret 4, G sharp, root, finger 4
- String 5 (A): open, A, flat second; fret 2, B, flat third, finger 2; fret 3, C, flat fourth, finger 3
- String 4 (D): open, D, flat fifth; fret 2, E, flat sixth, finger 2; fret 4, F sharp, flat seventh, finger 4
- String 3 (G): fret 1, G sharp, root, finger 1; fret 2, A, flat second, finger 2; fret 4, B, flat third, finger 4
- String 2 (B): open, B, flat third; fret 1, C, flat fourth, finger 1; fret 3, D, flat fifth, finger 3
- String 1 (E): open, E, flat sixth; fret 2, F sharp, flat seventh, finger 2; fret 4, G sharp, root, finger 4
Read the dots by degree: 1 is the tonic (highlighted); the rest follow the scale's formula.
See the full explanation of the altered (super-Locrian) scale →