Fretboard fluency

Last month, we looked at Melodic Minor’s seventh mode – Superlocrian (also known as the Altered scale), which is commonly applied over dominant chords with alterations to the 5th or 2nd (9th) degrees - or both at once.

Superlocrian – R- b 2-#2-3- b 5-#5- b 7 As we can see from the formula above, the Superlocrian mode contains all the possible combinations of altered 5th and 2nd (9th) degrees, in addition to the root, 3rd, 5th and b 7th of the dominant chord. Typically found within jazz and blues progressions such as the II-V-I and I-IV-V, altered dominant chords function as a means of creating tension, which helps to guide the listener’s ear towards the resolving tonic chord a 4th higher (or of course a 5th lower).

In last month’s lesson, we worked through the E Superlocrian mode in