Chord & FretUltralocrian (G)
The last rotation of harmonic minor: its 7th mode — put simply, its notes starting from the leading tone, the note a half step below the home note. That's why almost everything here is lowered, giving a dark, cramped sound that never settles anywhere. The traditional formula has a lowered 4th and a double-lowered 7th, which this page spells as 3 and 6 — the same sounds in simpler writing. Its home chord is the diminished seventh, which is nothing more than a stack of minor thirds; in practice, it lives more in composition and analysis than in everyday repertoire.
Example: G – Ab – Bb – Cb – Db – Eb – FbFormula: 1 – b2 – b3 – b4 – b5 – b6 – bb7In the formula, the numbers are degrees — positions counted in the reference major scale; "b" lowers a half step and "#" raises one.
Family: Harmonic minor and its modes.
The major seventh creates a strong leading tone and enables the V7 chord in a minor key. In popular practice the most relevant modes of the family are harmonic minor itself and phrygian dominant.
Chords in the harmonic field
These are the seven chords born from this scale — one built on each of its notes. Put another way: the set of chords that sounds naturally "inside" the scale. See the harmonic field of every key →
G°7Abm(maj7)Bbm7b5Cbmaj7#5Dbm7Eb7Fbmaj7The same scale on all four instruments
In the diagrams, each dot carries its scale degree — 1 is the tonic, highlighted.
Each instrument above shows one box of Ultralocrian — a slice of the whole neck. In Chord & Fret, you press play and watch each note light up on the diagram the instant it sounds; switch the dot labels between degrees, note names and fingers; and run it up, down or in a full round trip. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. 100% offline. Open in Chord & Fret →