SCALE REFERENCE

E Altered

E – F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7

Every tension a dominant chord can take — b9, #9, b5 and #5. The go-to scale over an altered dominant resolving to a minor chord. The 7th mode of melodic minor.

Notes & degrees
E1Fb2Gb3A♭b4B♭b5Cb6Db7
NotesE, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D
StepsH – W – H – W – W – W – W (W = whole, H = half)
Also calledSuper Locrian, Diminished Whole Tone
Piano
EFGCDA♭B♭
Guitar & ukulele — every position (frets 0–12)
357912eEFGA♭B♭CDEBCDEFGA♭B♭GGA♭B♭CDEFGDDEFGA♭B♭CDAB♭CDEFGA♭EEFGA♭B♭CDE

Root notes are red. The full map of the scale on the guitar neck; the common box patterns are groups of these notes.

357912AB♭CDEFGA♭EEFGA♭B♭CDECCDEFGA♭B♭CGGA♭B♭CDEFG

The same scale on a ukulele in standard G–C–E–A tuning.

Chords in the key
DegreeTriad7th chord
i°EdimEm7♭5
♭iiFmFm(maj7)
♭iiiGmGm7
♭IV+A♭augA♭maj7♯5
♭VB♭B♭7
♭VICC7
♭vii°DdimDm7♭5

These are the chords built by stacking scale notes in thirds. Click through for each chord's own diagrams:

i°Edim♭iiFm♭iiiGm♭IV+A♭aug♭VB♭♭VIC♭vii°Ddim
Other scales on E

Core scales & modes

E MajorE Natural MinorE Harmonic MinorE Melodic MinorE DorianE PhrygianE LydianE MixolydianE Locrian

Pentatonic & blues

E Major PentatonicE Minor PentatonicE BluesE Major Blues

Jazz & altered

E Harmonic MajorE Phrygian DominantE Lydian DominantE Bebop Dominant

Symmetric

E Whole ToneE Diminished (Whole–Half)E Diminished (Half–Whole)E Augmented Scale

World & exotic

E Hungarian MinorE Double Harmonic MajorE Neapolitan Minor
Altered on another root
CC♯DD♯EFF♯GG♯AA♯B
Keep exploring

See the diatonic chords with audio in the Scale & Chord Finder, find where a key sits among the others on the Circle of Fifths, or start the free Cloud Atelier music guides.