E♭ AlteredScale

Formula

H W H W W W W 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
The family

E♭ Altered on the chromatic circle

E♭ Altered is the 7th mode of the Melodic minor family. Pick another note on the circle to open the scale that starts there.

W H W W W W H ♭2 F♭I Melodic minor ♭3 G♭II Dorian ♭2 ♭4 A𝄫III Lydian augmented ♭5 B𝄫IV Lydian dominant ♭6 C♭V Mixolydian ♭6 ♭7 D♭VI Locrian ♮2 1 E♭VII Altered E♭ Altered
The whole neck

E♭ 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.

3 5 7 9 12 15 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 1 ♭2 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4
Harmony

Chords in E♭ Altered

Stack every other note of the scale from each degree and you get its chords. Open any of them in the chord library.

DegreeChordNotes
i°E♭m7♭5E♭ G♭ B𝄫 D♭
♭iiF♭m(maj7)F♭ A𝄫 C♭ E♭
♭iiiG♭m7G♭ B𝄫 D♭ F♭
♭IV+A𝄫maj7♯5A𝄫 C♭ E♭ G♭
♭VB𝄫7B𝄫 D♭ F♭ A𝄫
♭VIC♭7C♭ E♭ G♭ B𝄫
♭vii°D♭m7♭5D♭ F♭ A𝄫 C♭
Context

Where E♭ Altered fits

Over an altered dominant 7 (♭9, ♯9, ♯11, ♭13) resolving to the tonic in jazz: the V7alt of a ii–V–I.

E♭ 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:

Move one note by a half step and you get a different scale:

Altered scale in every key

E♭ Altered scale questions

What notes are in the E♭ Altered scale?

E♭ F♭ G♭ A𝄫 B𝄫 C♭ D♭. As degrees from the root: 1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7.

What is the E♭ 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 E♭ Altered scale on guitar?

This page draws every note of E♭ 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 D shape to the C shape to the A shape to the G shape to the E shape.

What chords are in the E♭ Altered scale?

E♭m7♭5 (i°), F♭m(maj7) (♭ii), G♭m7 (♭iii), A𝄫maj7♯5 (♭IV+), B𝄫7 (♭V), C♭7 (♭VI), D♭m7♭5 (♭vii°).

When is the E♭ 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.