Scales
B Messiaen's Mode #5 Scale
B · C · E · E# · F# · A#
B Messiaen's Mode #5 is a scale built on B with the notes B · C · E · E# · F# · A#.
B Messiaen's Mode #5 Scale
B · C · E · E# · F# · A#
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 | B · C · E · E# · F# · A# · B | |
| Left hand | 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 | B · C · E · E# · F# · A# · B |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
B Messiaen's Mode #5 is made of the notes B · C · E · E# · F# · A#. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern H 2 H H 2 H.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · pentatonic and blues scales
Related scales
B Messiaen's Mode #5 is a selection of notes from larger scales rather than a seven-note scale of its own, so it has no chords of its own: it takes them from the scales that contain it, listed here with the scales it contains and its related keys.
Scales that contain it
B Messiaen's Mode #4B · C · C# · E · E# · F# · G · A#
Contains every note of B Messiaen's Mode #5.
B Purvi RagaB · C · D# · E · E# · F# · G · A#
Contains every note of B Messiaen's Mode #5.
B Messiaen's Mode #7B · C · C# · D · E · E# · F# · G · G# · A#
Contains every note of B Messiaen's Mode #5.
B ChromaticB · C · C# · D · D# · E · F · F# · G · G# · A · A#
Contains every note of B Messiaen's Mode #5.
Common questions
- How do I play B Messiaen's Mode #5?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 1 2 3 1 2 3 4, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What notes are in B Messiaen's Mode #5?
- B Messiaen's Mode #5 contains the notes B · C · E · E# · F# · A#, measured from the tonic B as the intervals 1P, 2m, 4P, 4A, 5P, 7M. Play them in order for the scale: every note on this page sounds when you tap it, and the step pattern under the degrees shows the distance from each note to the next.
- What is the formula of B Messiaen's Mode #5?
- From B the steps run H 2 H H 2 H, where a whole step is two frets or two keys and a half step one. Apply the same pattern from any other note and you get the same scale on that root, which is why every root of this scale has a page here.