E Persian Scale and the Open Low E
Persian in E starts on the open low E string and continues through E, F, G#, A, Bb, C and D#. These are the notes of the E Persian scale.
The 1st fret gives you F, the flat second, which sounds immediately exotic against the open root. The root comes back on the 7th fret of the A string and the 12th fret. Slide the shape along the neck to hear the same colour in other keys.
Play the E persian scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the E persian scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1 | Root | 0 |
| F | b2 | Minor 2nd | 1 |
| G# | 3 | Major 3rd | 4 |
| A | 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 |
| Bb | b5 | Tritone | 6 |
| C | b6 | Minor 6th | 8 |
| D# | 7 | Major 7th | 11 |
Structure
E persian scale notes:
How the persian scale is built:
The persian scale is built from the degrees 1 b2 3 4 b5 b6 7, which gives the step pattern H-W+H-H-H-W-W+H-H (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11. That makes it a 7-note scale.
E Persian Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (low E)
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 E persian scale
Stacking thirds on each degree of the scale gives these chords.
Other scales on E
Same root, different notes. Play them back to back to hear what changes.
- E Bizantine: 5 instead of b5
- E Arabic: shares 5 notes
- E Indian: shares 4 notes
The persian scale in other keys
Keep learning
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
