A AlteredScale
Formula
A Altered on the chromatic circle
A Altered is the 7th mode of the Melodic minor family. Pick another note on the circle to open the scale that starts there.
A Altered across the fretboard
Every note of the scale up to the 16th fret, named by its degree. The root is a ring. Step through the five CAGED positions one at a time in the scale library.
Chords in A Altered
Stack every other note of the scale from each degree and you get its chords. Open any of them in the chord library.
Where A Altered fits
Over an altered dominant 7 (♭9, ♯9, ♯11, ♭13) resolving to the tonic in jazz: the V7alt of a ii–V–I.
A Altered is mode 7 of the melodic minor family. The same notes played from each of its other degrees give the family's other modes:
- A Altered
- B♭ Melodic minor
- C Dorian ♭2
- D♭ Lydian augmented
- E♭ Lydian dominant
- F Mixolydian ♭6
- G Locrian ♮2
Move one note by a half step and you get a different scale:
Altered scale in every key
A Altered scale questions
What notes are in the A Altered scale?
A B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G. As degrees from the root: 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7.
What is the A Altered scale formula?
1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7, or in steps between the notes, H W H W W W W (W is a whole step of two frets, H a half step of one fret, 1½ three frets).
How do you play the A Altered scale on guitar?
This page draws every note of A Altered up to the 16th fret, each named by its degree with the root as a ring. To learn it a few frets at a time, open it in the scale library and step through its five CAGED positions, from the G shape to the E shape to the D shape to the C shape to the A shape.
What chords are in the A Altered scale?
Am7♭5 (i°), B♭m(maj7) (♭ii), Cm7 (♭iii), D♭maj7♯5 (♭IV+), E♭7 (♭V), F7 (♭VI), Gm7♭5 (♭vii°).
When is the A Altered scale used?
Over an altered dominant 7 (♭9, ♯9, ♯11, ♭13) resolving to the tonic in jazz: the V7alt of a ii–V–I.