STRINGSCALES

A oriental Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F#, G, A, Bb, C#, D, Eb at frets 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11

A string: A, Bb, C#, D, Eb, F#, G, A at frets 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12

D string: D, Eb, F#, G, A, Bb, C#, D at frets 0, 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12

G string: G, A, Bb, C#, D, Eb, F#, G at frets 0, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12

B string: C#, D, Eb, F#, G, A, Bb at frets 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11

High E string: F#, G, A, Bb, C#, D, Eb at frets 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11

Pick a root note

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A oriental

The oriental scale is the double harmonic major scale with its 5th flattened: root, flat 2nd, major 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, 6th, flat 7th. Losing the perfect 5th removes its anchor, tilting the byzantine sound toward the diminished and making the natural 6th glow strangely above the b5. A deliberately unstable exotic color.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

A

I

Amaj♭5
B♭

bII+

B♭aug
C♯

III

E♭7no5/C#
D

IV

Dmaj
E♭

bV

E♭maj
F♯

vi

F♯m
G

bvii

Gm

Same notes, different mode

A oriental uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

D double harmonic majorG hungarian minor

oriental in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Play the double harmonic sound but let the flat 5th (Eb) replace the anchor: nothing rests, so write phrases that end on the major 3rd (C#).
  • The natural 6th (F#) above the b5 (Eb) is the scale's strangest glow; leap b5 (Eb) up to VI and back for its signature ornament.
  • Use it over a dominant 7th with b9 and b5 (Eb) available; III and bVII (G) are the guide tones holding it together.
  • Keep a drone on A beneath everything; without the perfect 5th, the root drone is what keeps the ear oriented.

How to play A oriental on guitar

Open A is the tonic, open D the fourth above it and open G the flat seventh, which lets a three-string drone hold under everything played on the top two strings. Roots then repeat at fret 2 on the G string and fret 5 on both E strings. Same fingering covers D double harmonic major, 5 semitones up, so one learned box pays twice. First position gives out at fret 9.

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