C# Double Harmonic Major: Notes and Shapes

Play the C# bizantine scale

Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.

Notes of the C# bizantine scale

Structure

C# bizantine scale notes:

C# D E# F# G# A B#

How the bizantine scale is built:

The bizantine scale is built from the degrees 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 7, which gives the step pattern H-W+H-H-W-H-W+H-H (W = whole step, H = half step).

Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11. That makes it a 7-note scale.

It is also known as Double Harmonic Major, Hijaz Kar and Byzantine.

C# Bizantine Scale Guitar Patterns

Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.

On one string (B)

Box pattern — position 1

Box pattern — position 2

Box pattern — position 3

Box pattern — position 4

Box pattern — position 5

3 notes per string — position 1

3 notes per string — position 2

3 notes per string — position 3

3 notes per string — position 4

3 notes per string — position 5

Chords in the C# bizantine scale

Stacking thirds on each degree of the scale gives these chords.

Scales with the same notes as C# Bizantine

These scales use exactly the same notes. Each one starts somewhere else, so the root and the mood change.

Other scales on C#

Same root, different notes. Play them back to back to hear what changes.

• C# Persian: b5 instead of 5
• C# Arabic: shares 4 notes
• C# Indian: drops the 3 and 7
• C# Harmonic Major: 2 instead of b2
• C# Phrygian Dominant: b7 instead of 7

The bizantine scale in other keys

All about the bizantine scale →

Keep learning

• Exotic guitar scales
• Scale fingering