Japanese Scales

Japanese Scales

This page contains information on several Japanese scales, and includes guitar tab and fretboard diagrams.

There are several Western interpretations of Japanese scales. They are all pentatonic (i.e. made up of five notes). Each of them produces a slightly different sound, but all are instantly recognisable as being Japanese in origin.

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Double Harmonic Scale

The double harmonic scale goes by several other names, including the Arabic scale, Gypsy scale and Byzantine scale. It has the unusual feature of two augmented second intervals; these, together with the half-step gap between its first and second notes, give the scale an exotic, Eastern sound. The scale spelling is: 1, b2, 3, 4, …

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Freygish Scale

The Freygish Scale, also known as the Jewish Scale, is a common scale in Middle Eastern music, and produces an instantly recognisable exotic sound. It is also known as the Phrygian dominant scale and the Spanish Gypsy scale. It is widely used in Arabic music, and in Spanish music – it is a scale used …

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