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5.1.6
Arabic Scale or Byzantine Scale (Sometimes Called the Double Harmonic Scale)

Figure 27 below shows a scale used in the Middle East that goes by various names: Arabic, Byzantine, and Double Harmonic. Try playing it on your guitar or piano.

Compare this Arabic scale with the familiar major diatonic scale (all the white keys on the piano, beginning with C). The Arabic scale has four semitone intervals, including two consecutive semitones as you pass through the tonic note. These dissonances give the scale an exotic, other-worldly sound to Western ears.

You can play this scale starting with any note on your guitar or piano. As usual, just make sure you preserve the order of the intervals, like this:

Interval order of an Arabic musical scale.
Arabic musical scale showing the seven intervals and eight notes.

FIGURE 27: Arabic, Byzantine, or Double Harmonic Scale (7 Intervals, 8 Notes)

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