Chapter 20:
Specialty scales
Hijaz
Hijaz is an Arabic “maqam”, which is like a Middle Eastern scale or mode with characteristic motifs and traditional patterns of use.
Hijaz is sometimes called “majorized phrygian”, “phrygian dominant”, “flamenco”, and “gypsy major”.
It conveys a beautiful, “foreign” type of sound to Western listeners, coming across as vaguely Arabic, Gypsy, Jewish, Balkan, or even Spanish. This is due to two characteristics of Hijaz that are unusual in euroclassical harmony: the flat two and the tone-and-a-half interval.
In addition to being popular in Middle Eastern music, Hijaz is one of the most common scales used in Flamenco.
Hijaz scale
| S | TS | S | T | S | T | T | |
| 1 | b2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | b7 | 1 |
| C | Db | E | F | G | Ab | Bb | C |
A maqam like Hijaz is understood in terms of an upper and lower part,
usually tetrachords (called “jins” in Arabic).
The lower tetrachord of the Hijaz maqam is also called Hijaz.
Its intervals are 1-b2-3-4.
The upper tetrachord is called “Kurd” in Arabic,
but it’s the same as the phrygian tetrachord, 1-b2-b3-4.
Bebop
Bebop scales are 7-note scales with an added passing tone, placed so that each chord tone occurs on a downbeat.
The resulting 8-note scale allows playing fast 16th notes with all downbeats on chord tones and the bebop passing tone on an upbeat.
The most common bebop scale is based on the Mixolydian mode. This is also called the “dominant bebop scale”.
Mixolydian bebop scale
| T | T | S | T | T | S | S | T | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b7 | 7 | 1 |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | Bb | B | C |
Jazz minor and its modes
Jazz musicians are fond of the melodic minor scale.
It’s the simplest possible minor scale: a major scale with a b3. It includes a leading tone and no tone-and-a-half interval, simplifying minor key tonality. See Chapter 17. Minor scales for details.
In the context of jazz, melodic minor is often called “jazz minor”, and it’s played the same ascending and descending.
The different modes of jazz minor are also commonly used jazz scales.
Modes of jazz minor
| T | S | T | T | T | T | S | T | S | T | T | T | T | S | |||
| C | D | Eb | F | G | A | B | C | D | Eb | F | G | A | B | C | ||
| i | Melodic minor | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| ii | Dorian b2 | 1 | b2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b7 | 1 | |||||||
| bIII | Lydian #5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | #4 | #5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | |||||||
| IV | Lydian b7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | #4 | 5 | 6 | b7 | 1 | |||||||
| V | Mixolydian b6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | b7 | 1 | |||||||
| vi | Locrian #2 | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | b5 | b6 | b7 | 1 | |||||||
| vii | Altered | 1 | b2 | b3 | b4 | b5 | b6 | b7 | 1 |
i: Jazz minor (melodic minor)
ii: Dorian b2
Dorian b2 is also known as “Phrygian #6”, “Assyrian”, or “Phrygidorian”.
bIII: Lydian #5
Lydian #5 is also known as “Lydian augmented”.
IV: Lydian b7
Lydian b7 is also known as “Lydian dominant”.
V: Mixolydian b6
Mixolydian b6 is also known as “Melodic major”, “Hindu”, or “Myxaeolian”.
vi: Locrian #2
Locrian #2 is also known as “Half-diminished” or “Aeolocrian”.
vii: Altered scale
The altered scale is also known as “Super Locrian” or “Altered dominant”.
And many more…
This has just been a taste of the abundant variety of scales to be explored. Jazz guitarists in particular will come across a great deal more.
By this point, hopefully it’s easy to break down and study new scales on our own.