A♭ Mode 6 Scale

123456789101112131415EG♭GA♭B♭CD♭DEG♭GCD♭DEG♭GA♭B♭CD♭DGA♭B♭CD♭DEG♭GA♭B♭DEG♭GA♭B♭CD♭DEB♭CD♭DEG♭GA♭B♭CEG♭GA♭B♭CD♭DEG♭G
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Summary

A♭ Mode 6 contains 8 notes: A♭, B♭, C, D♭, D, E, G♭, G. It has 4 flats: A♭, B♭, D♭, G♭. The step pattern is W–W–H–H–W–W–H–H.

Messiaen Mode 6 is an 8-note scale with 6 possible transpositions. Two whole-tone tetrachords connected by half steps give it a floating quality with strategic anchor points.

Theory

The formula is 1, 2, 3, 4, b5, b6, b7, 7. Each group of 4 notes moves in whole tones, and the groups connect by half step. The result sounds "whole-tone-ish" in small fragments but breaks the whole-tone symmetry at specific points. Messiaen valued this ability to create whole-tone floatiness with structural interruptions.

On the guitar

Excellent for exploiting diminished and augmented intervals to break away from diatonic cliches. Practice the two whole-tone tetrachords separately, then work on the half-step connections between them. The symmetry makes transposition straightforward.

Step pattern W – W – H – H – W – W – H – H
A♭B♭CD♭DEG♭GA♭TTSSTTSS
Piano
A♭·B♭·C·D·E·G·D♭·G♭·8
Staff
𝄞♭A♭♭B♭C♭D♭DE♭G♭G♭A♭ (8)
Related scales
A♭ Mode 1G♯ Harmonic minorG♯ Mode 6
Related modes
Mode 1Mode 2Mode 3Mode 4Mode 5Mode 7
Also known as
A♭ Messiaen mode 6
Common in
20th century classicalAvant-garde

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