STRINGSCALES

D♭ oriental Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, Gb, Abb, Bb, Cb, Db, Ebb at frets 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10

A string: Bb, Cb, Db, Ebb, F, Gb, Abb at frets 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10

D string: Ebb, F, Gb, Abb, Bb, Cb, Db, Ebb at frets 0, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12

G string: Abb, Bb, Cb, Db, Ebb, F, Gb, Abb at frets 0, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

B string: Cb, Db, Ebb, F, Gb, Abb, Bb, Cb at frets 0, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12

High E string: F, Gb, Abb, Bb, Cb, Db, Ebb at frets 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10

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Db 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:

D♭

I

D♭majb5
E𝄫

bII+

E𝄫aug
F

III

A𝄫7no5/F
G♭

IV

G♭maj
A𝄫

bV

A𝄫maj
B♭

vi

B♭m
C♭

bvii

C♭m

Same notes, different mode

Db 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.

Gb double harmonic majorCb hungarian minor

oriental in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

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

How to play D♭ oriental on guitar

Clamp a capo at the 1st fret and every C oriental shape transfers here intact, which means a familiar box does the work while the written key carries 6 flats. Open D, G and B strings all fall in the key as a minor second, a diminished fifth and a minor seventh, so they suit passing colour more than a held pedal. Lowest root sits at fret 9 on the low E string. Fret 2, B string, is nearest the nut. Position work from fret 13 restarts the first shape, giving the same fingering higher up.

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