Bb Japanese Scale on the Neck

Five clean note names, Bb, C, Eb, F and Gb, spell the Bb Japanese scale, with no double accidentals to read around.

The root is on the 1st fret of the A string, beside the nut, and on the 6th fret of the low E string. The half step between F and Gb is the signature sound. To hear more scales like it, see other exotic scales.

Play the Bb japanese scale

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

Notes of the Bb japanese scale

Note	Degree	Interval	Semitones from root
Bb	1	Root	0
C	2	Major 2nd	2
Eb	4	Perfect 4th	5
F	5	Perfect 5th	7
Gb	b6	Minor 6th	8

Structure

Bb japanese scale notes:

Bb C Eb F Gb

How the japanese scale is built:

The japanese scale is built from the degrees 1 2 4 5 b6, which gives the step pattern W-W+H-W-H-WW (W = whole step, H = half step).

Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 2, 5, 7, 8. That makes it a 5-note scale.

Bb Japanese Scale Guitar Patterns

Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.

On one string (A)

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

Other scales on Bb

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

Bb Indian: b2 instead of 2
Bb Minor: adds the b3 and b7
Bb Harmonic Minor: adds the b3 and 7
Bb Harmonic Major: adds the 3 and 7
Bb Mixolydian b6: adds the 3 and b7

The japanese scale in other keys

C Japanese C# Japanese D Japanese Eb Japanese E Japanese F Japanese F# Japanese G Japanese Ab Japanese A Japanese Bb Japanese B Japanese

All about the japanese scale →

Keep learning

Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher