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B hirajoshi Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F#, G, B, C#, D at frets 2, 3, 7, 9, 10

A string: B, C#, D, F#, G at frets 2, 4, 5, 9, 10

D string: D, F#, G, B, C#, D at frets 0, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12

G string: G, B, C#, D, F#, G at frets 0, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12

B string: B, C#, D, F#, G, B at frets 0, 2, 3, 7, 8, 12

High E string: F#, G, B, C#, D at frets 2, 3, 7, 9, 10

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B hirajoshi

The hirajoshi scale is the best known Japanese pentatonic: root, 2nd, flat 3rd, 5th, flat 6th. Each half step resolves downward (b3 to 2, b6 to 5), which creates its elegant, melancholy motion. It has long since escaped traditional koto music: metal and fusion players from Marty Friedman onward mine it for exotic riffs that still sit over a plain minor chord.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

B

I

C♯

II

D

bIII

F♯

V

G

bVI

Same notes, different mode

B hirajoshi 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.

C# iwatoF# kumoijoshiG lydian pentatonic

hirajoshi in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Practice the two half-step resolutions (b3 (D) to II, b6 (G) to V); descending through them is the scale's whole elegance.
  • Metal borrows it constantly: riff root, II, b3 (D) low on the neck in B, then answer with V and b6 (G) an octave up.
  • Map it inside your minor pentatonic box: same root and 5th, with II and b6 (G) replacing IV and b7 (A).
  • Let phrases end on II rather than the root occasionally; traditional koto lines often rest away from home.

How to play B hirajoshi on guitar

Open B is the root, the D string a minor third up and the G string a minor sixth, so three open strings hold the key on their own. Roots gather at 7 on both E strings and 2 on the A. Two frets of capo turn this into A fingering, which means two sharps stop mattering. Db iwato repeats this shape two semitones up.

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