Allan Holdsworth’s 10 Most Usable Scales

In 1992, REH released a video for Allan Holdsworth. In it, he gave a little glimpse of his process. His way of displaying and treating scales was of paramount importance.

Included with each of the scale diagrams is a list of the Common Chords which can be derived from that scale.

This article is a work in progress and this topic deserves much expansion, which will be implemented gradually. For the time being, please enjoy this initial listing!

Without Allan Holdsworth, this website wouldn't exist.

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Scale 1: D Dorian


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  • Allan's symbol: Dx
  • This scale is the second mode of the C Major Scale. Holdsworth actually defined this scale in his video as the "C, Dm, G7" scale. We know that Allan, not unlike Pat Martino, preferred 'conversion to minor' whenever possible so the scale is named not as C major a type of D minor scale, which for jazz-improvisation is actually much more efficient. As Allan said in this 1991 interview: "Basically I have a way of breaking down chords into scales and I usually take them to the nearest relative minor and I work on it from there."

On 13 September 2014 there was a "meet & greet" with Allan Holdsworth in The Cutting Room in NYC. Here, Allan discussed his approach and concepts more in-depth than he would typically do or was known for.

In this 'part 3' of the highly recommended recordings of that meet & greet, he explains how he looks at the notes within an octave as a circle, instead of, say, a row and he showed a graphic of his interpretation of such a circle.

He explains how he arrived at his personal concept of approaching the C major scale from the second degree (the D dorian mode), and using it as a vantage point. The reason for this is that he looked at the circle visualization of the scale and found it to be perfectly symmetrical when the D is at 12 o'clock. This is also how he arrived at his naming convention of the 'x' as the most basic scale type.

So, in a way not unlike Pat Martino's approach, he uses 'conversion to minor', looking at each scale preferably as a variant of the dorian mode.

The practice of visualizing scales in this way comes from Musical Set Theory, as a way to visualize pitch classes, a system that takes a highly mathematical approach to music and is more commonly used in the world of classical music, especially amongst scholars and composers. A good example of this is the Chromatic Circle.

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List: Triads and Seventh chords in the D dorian scale
Triads Seventh Chords
  1. Dm
  2. Em
  3. F
  4. F(b5)
  5. G
  6. Am
  7. Bdim
  8. C
  1. Dm7
  2. Em7
  3. Fmaj7
  4. Fmaj7b5
  5. G7
  6. Am7
  7. Bm7b5
  8. Cmaj7

Scale 2: D Melodic Minor


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Allan's symbol: Dⓧ

Formula: 1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Visit the Main Topic for the D Melodic Minor Scale.


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List: Triads and Seventh chords in the D Melodic Minor scale

Scale 3: A Harmonic Minor


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Allan's symbol: A -6

Formula: 1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - 7

Visit the Main Topic for the A Harmonic Minor Scale.


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List: Triads and Seventh chords in the A Harmonic Minor scale

Scale 4: A Melodic Minor #4


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Allan's symbol: A +4

Formula: 1 - 2 - b3 - #4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Visit the Main Topic for the A Melodic Minor #4 Scale.


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List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the A Melodic Minor #4 scale

TriadsSeventh Chords
  • Aº7
  • A-Δ
  • B7
  • Cº7
  • C+Δ
  • CΔb5
  • Ebº7
  • E+Δ
  • Gbº7
  • Gbm7b5
  • Ab-7
  • Ab7
  • Ab+7

Scale 5: G Dominant Diminished - Messiaen Mode M2


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  • Allan's symbol: Goo
  • French composer Olivier Messiaen in his work "The Technique of my Musical Language", presented this scale as the second of seven "Modes of Limited Transposition" (Wikipedia). Thus, it may be referred to as the 'M2'.
  • Formula: 1 - b2 - b3 - 3 - #4 - 5 - 6 - b7
  • Visit the Main Topic for the G Dominant Diminished Scale.

List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the G Dominant Diminished Scale

TriadsSeventh Chords
  1. G-
  2. G
  3. G(b5)
  4. Abº
  5. Bbº
  6. Bb-
  7. Bb
  8. Bb(b5)
  9. Dbº
  10. Db-
  11. Db
  12. Db(b5)
  13. E-
  14. E
  15. E(b5)
  1. Gº7
  2. Gm7b5
  3. G-7
  4. G7
  5. G7b5
  6. Abº7
  7. Bbº7
  8. Bbm7b5
  9. Bb-7
  10. Bb7
  11. Bb7b5
  12. Bº7
  13. Dbº7
  14. Dbm7b5
  15. Db-7
  16. Db7
  17. Db7b5
  18. Dº7
  19. Eº7
  20. Em7b5
  21. E-7
  22. E7
  23. E7b5
  24. Fº7

Scale 6: Bb Jazz Major


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List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the Bb Jazz Major scale


TriadsSeventh Chords
  1. Bb
  2. Bb+
  3. C-
  4. D-
  5. D
  6. D+
  7. Ebº
  8. Eb-
  9. Eb
  10. Eb(b5)
  11. F
  12. Gbº
  13. Gb+
  14. Gb(b5)
  15. G-
BbΔ
Bb+Δ
Cº7
Cm7b5
C-7
D-7
D7
D+7
Ebº7
Eb-Δ
EbΔ
EbΔ#11 (no 5)
F7
Gbº7
Gb+Δ
GbΔ#11 (no 5)
G-7
G-Δ
Aº7
Am7b5

Scale 7: C Jazz Dominant


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Allan's symbol: C7ɤ

Formula: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - b7 - 7

Visit the Main Topic for the C Jazz Dominant Scale.


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List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the C Jazz Dominant scale


TriadsSeventh Chords
  1. C
  2. D-
  3. E-
  4. F
  5. F(b5)
  6. G-
  7. G
  8. A-
  9. Bb
  10. Bb(b5)
  1. C7
  2. D-7
  3. Em7b5
  4. E-7
  5. FΔb5
  6. G-7
  7. G7
  8. A-7
  9. BbΔ
  10. BbΔb5
  11. Bm7b5

Scale 8: B Bebop Dorian


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Allan's symbol: Bxɤ

Formula: 1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - b7 - 7

Visit the Main Topic for the B Bebop Dorian Scale.


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List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the B Bebop Dorian scale


Triads Seventh Chords
  1. Bm
  2. C#m
  3. D
  4. D+
  5. D(b5)
  6. E
  7. E(b5)
  8. F#m
  9. F#
  10. F#+
  11. G#dim
  12. A
  13. A#dim
  14. A#+
  15. A#(b5)
  1. Bm7
  2. BmMaj7
  3. Dbm7
  4. Dmaj7
  5. Dmaj7#5
  6. Dmaj7#11 (no 5)
  7. E7
  8. E7#11 (no 5)
  9. Gbm7
  10. Gb7
  11. Gb7#5
  12. Abm7b5
  13. Amaj7
  14. Bbm7b5
  15. Bbmaj7#5
  16. Bb7#5
  17. Bb7#11 (no 5)
  18. Bbmaj7#11 (no 5)

Scale 9: A Bebop Melodic Minor


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Allan's symbol: Aɤ

Formula: 1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - 6 - 7

Visit the Main Topic for the A Bebop Melodic Minor Scale.


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List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the A Bebop Melodic Minor scale

Triads Seventh Chords
  1. Am
  2. Bdim
  3. Bm
  4. C+
  5. C(b5)
  6. Ddim
  7. Dm
  8. D
  9. D(b5)
  10. E
  11. E+
  12. Fdim
  13. Fm
  14. F
  15. F(b5)
  16. F#dim
  17. G#dim
  18. G#+
  19. G#(b5)
  1. AmMaj7
  2. Bdim7
  3. Bm7b5
  4. B 7
  5. Cmaj7#5
  6. Cmaj7b5
  7. Ddim7
  8. Dm7b5
  9. Dm7
  10. D7
  11. D7b5
  12. E7
  13. E7#5
  14. Fdim7
  15. FmMaj7
  16. Fmaj7
  17. Fmaj7b5
  18. Gbm7b5
  19. Abdim7
  20. Abm7b5
  21. Ab7#5
  22. Ab7b5

Scale 10: The Tcherepnin Scale - Key of C - Messiaen Mode 3


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  • 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.

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List: Triads and Seventh Chords in the Tcherepnin Scale


Triads Seventh Chords
  1. Cdim
  2. Cm
  3. C
  4. C+
  5. C(b5)
  6. D+
  7. D(b5)
  8. Ebm
  9. Eb
  10. Eb+
  11. Edim
  12. Em
  13. E
  14. E+
  15. E(b5)
  16. Gb+
  17. Gb(b5)
  18. Gm
  19. G
  20. G+
  21. Abdim
  22. Abm
  23. Ab
  24. Ab+
  25. Ab(b5)
  26. Bb+
  27. Bb(b5)
  28. Bm
  29. B
  30. B+
  1. Cm7b5
  2. Cm7
  3. CmMaj7
  4. Cmaj7
  5. Cmaj7#5
  6. C7
  7. C7#5
  8. C7b5
  9. Cmaj7b5
  10. D7#5
  11. D7b5
  12. EbmMaj7
  13. Ebmaj7
  14. Ebmaj7#5
  15. Em7b5
  16. Em7
  17. EmMaj7
  18. Emaj7
  19. Emaj7#5
  20. E7
  21. E7#5
  22. E7b5
  23. Emaj7b5
  24. Gb7#5
  25. Gb7b5
  26. GmMaj7
  27. Gmaj7
  28. Gmaj7#5
  29. Abm7b5
  30. Abm7
  31. AbmMaj7
  32. Abmaj7
  33. Abmaj7#5
  34. Ab7
  35. Ab7#5
  36. Ab7b5
  37. Abmaj7b5
  38. Bb7#5
  39. Bb7b5
  40. BmMaj7
  41. Bmaj7
  42. Bmaj7#5

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