C Tcherepnin (Messiaen M3)

Holdsworth's Usable Scales · Scale 10 of 10

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Scale 10 of 10Holdsworth's Usable Scales

No 10 C Tcherepnin (Messiaen M3)

Allan's symbol: Cooo 1 – 2 – b3 – 3 – #4 – 5 – b6 – b7 – 7

C Tcherepnin (Messiaen M3) scale, full-neck fretboard diagram, Fretly rendering
  • Allan’s symbol: Cooo
  • Formula: 1 - 2 - b3 - 3 - #4 - 5 - b6 - b7 - 7
  • French composer Olivier Messiaen in his book La technique de mon langage musical (“The Technique of my Musical Language”), presented this scale as the third of seven “Modes of Limited Transposition” (Wikipedia). Thus, it may be commonly referred to as the ‘M3’.
  • This scale was also a defining part of the musical language of composer-pianist Alexander Tcherepnin, and because of this it also came to be known as the “Tcherepnin scale”, particularly because famous author-composer Nicolas Slonimsky named it thus in his 1968 book Alexander Tcherepnin Septuagenarian (pg. 19–20).
  • Messiaen Mode 3 - Key of C
  • Messiaen Mode 3 - Key of D
  • Messiaen Mode 3 - Key of G
  • Messiaen Mode 3 - Key of A
  • Rick Beato on the Modes of Limited Transposition.
  • Here’s a (crude) clip of Nelson Veras during a clinic at the Conservatory of Amsterdam expounding on improvising with this scale. And here.

Modes

A mode is this same set of notes heard from a different starting note. Pick one to see it on the circle.

Degrees 4, 7 are omitted: their rotations are identical in pitch-class content to the scale itself (a mode of limited transposition), not a distinct new mode.

Explore the Tcherepnin scale in Fretly

Backing tracks

Jam this scale over these. They open on the track page.

C Tcherepnin (Messiaen M3) scale circle diagram, Fretly rendering

Triads

CC, E, G CmC, Eb, G CdimC, Eb, Gb C+C, E, G# Csus2C, D, G D+D, F#, A# EbEb, G, Bb EbmEb, Gb, Bb Eb+Eb, G, B Ebsus4Eb, Ab, Bb EE, G#, B EmE, G, B EdimE, G, Bb E+E, G#, C Esus2E, F#, B Gb+Gb, Bb, D GG, B, D GmG, Bb, D

12 more

Seventh chords

Cmaj7C, E, G, B C7C, E, G, Bb Cm7C, Eb, G, Bb Cm7b5C, Eb, Gb, Bb CmMaj7C, Eb, G, B C7#5C, E, G#, Bb Cmaj7#5C, E, G#, B C7b5C, E, Gb, Bb Cmaj7b5C, E, Gb, B D7#5D, F#, A#, C D7b5D, F#, Ab, C Ebmaj7Eb, G, Bb, D EbmMaj7Eb, Gb, Bb, D Ebmaj7#5Eb, G, B, D Eb6Eb, G, Bb, C Ebm6Eb, Gb, Bb, C Ebmaj7sus4Eb, Ab, Bb, D Emaj7E, G#, B, D#

33 more

This scale holds many more chords than these, with extensions, inversions and every voicing on the neck. Find them all in Fretly

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