STRINGSCALES

C hirajoshi Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: G, Ab, C, D, Eb at frets 3, 4, 8, 10, 11

A string: C, D, Eb, G, Ab at frets 3, 5, 6, 10, 11

D string: D, Eb, G, Ab, C, D at frets 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 12

G string: G, Ab, C, D, Eb, G at frets 0, 1, 5, 7, 8, 12

B string: C, D, Eb, G, Ab at frets 1, 3, 4, 8, 9

High E string: G, Ab, C, D, Eb at frets 3, 4, 8, 10, 11

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C 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:

C

I

D

II

E♭

bIII

G

V

A♭

bVI

Same notes, different mode

C 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.

D iwatoG kumoijoshiAb lydian pentatonic

hirajoshi in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

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

How to play C hirajoshi on guitar

Open D and G both belong here, at the major second and perfect fifth, so a two-string pedal is available without fretting. Root nearest the nut is fret 1 on the B string. Lowest root is fret 8 on the low E, and the box built from it stops at 12, which means the D string root at 10 still falls inside. G kumoijoshi uses this fingering seven semitones up.

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