G Ultralocrian Guitar Scale
Guitar scale in Double Drop D tuning — fretboard diagram
G Ultralocrian in Double Drop D — Notes and Intervals
The G Ultralocrian scale is an extremely dark and condensed scale used to create intense chromatic tension. On Guitar, its notes are G, Ab, Bb, B, Db, Eb, E. It is used in avant-garde jazz and dark ambient music to explore the most dissonant boundaries of minor-key tonality. Commonly used in Avant-Garde, Dark Ambient, Experimental Jazz. Notable players include John Zorn, Derek Bailey. Use over dim7 chords in avant-garde contexts. More of a compositional tool than an improvisational one.
Notes: G, Ab, Bb, B, Db, Eb, E
Intervals: 1P, 2m, 3m, 4d, 5d, 6m, 7d
Degrees: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 7
Formula: H-W-H-W-W-H-WH
Number of notes: 7
Tuning: Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)
Also known as: superlocrian bb7, superlocrian diminished
About Double Drop D Tuning
Double Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) lowers both the 6th and 1st strings from E to D, creating a symmetrical frame of D notes around the standard middle four strings. This gives a distinctly resonant, jangly character that has been beloved in folk-rock and acoustic music since the late 1960s.
Neil Young used Double Drop D extensively — 'Cinnamon Girl' features its distinctive droning riff, and 'The Needle and the Damage Done' showcases its intimate fingerpicking potential. Jimmy Page used it on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'. Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' also employs this tuning. Because only two strings change (both by just one whole step), Double Drop D is one of the easiest alternate tunings to learn — most standard chord shapes on the inner four strings remain unchanged.
Notable artists: Neil Young, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Best for: Folk-rock songwriting, D-centric acoustic arrangements, droning fingerpicking patterns, and any song that benefits from rich D-string resonance on both outer strings
Musical Character
The darkest mode of the harmonic minor — so dark it has a diminished 4th (bb7), making it almost chromatic. Used to push dissonance to its absolute limit.
Explore This Scale in Other Tunings
- G Ultralocrian in Standard Tuning
- G Ultralocrian in Drop D
- G Ultralocrian in DADGAD
- G Ultralocrian in Open G
- G Ultralocrian in Baritone (B Standard)
- G Ultralocrian in 7-string
- G Ultralocrian in 8-string
- G Ultralocrian in Drop C
- G Ultralocrian in Drop B
- G Ultralocrian in Open D
- G Ultralocrian in Half Step Down
- G Ultralocrian in Open E
- G Ultralocrian in Open A
- G Ultralocrian in Open C