What Is the Arabic Scale?

The desert scene in a film, the bazaar in a video game, an exotic background cue — that “Middle-Eastern” sound very often comes from what is commonly called the Arabic scale. In theory terms it is the same as the double harmonic scale, and starting from C it contains seven notes — C, Db, E, F, G, Ab, B (degrees 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7). It helps to think of it as a plain major scale with the 2nd and 6th lowered by a half step.

Hear it first

It is faster to feel the difference than to read about it. Use the player above: hear the ordinary major scale first, then the Arabic scale. With only the 2nd and 6th dropped a half step, the air turns suddenly exotic. Then play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in the Arabic scale — a melody you know becomes a desert scene, and the power of this scale is immediately clear.

You can also check it in the Scale Dictionary.

1. Open the Scale Dictionary
2. Set the root to C and the scale to “double harmonic”
3. Trace the keyboard — at Db→E and Ab→B there are two large leaps that skip over the neighboring key
4. Switch back to major on the same root and hear those leaps disappear

How the scale works

The character of this scale lives in its two augmented seconds. An augmented second looks like a “second” (adjacent note names), but its actual width is three half steps — the same span as a minor third. It is an oddly oversized leap for something that is spelled as a step.

In the Arabic scale these augmented seconds appear in two places:

• Db → E (b2 to 3)
• Ab → B (b6 to 7)

The name “double harmonic” comes from the fact that the scale contains two harmonic groupings built around these augmented seconds (see Double harmonic scale on Wikipedia). To an ear raised on the plain major scale, those oversized leaps register as “an unfamiliar move,” and that unfamiliarity becomes the exotic color.

• Lowered notes: the 2nd (D to Db) and 6th (A to Ab)
• Where the leaps happen: Db→E and Ab→B (both augmented seconds)
• Structure: half, augmented second, half, whole, half, augmented second, half

Why “Arabic scale” is such a confusing name

This is where many people get tripped up: the very same scale goes by wildly different names depending on the book or site. Double harmonic major, Byzantine scale, Gypsy major, Hijaz Kar, Ionian b2 b6 — these names differ, but the sequence of notes is the same (see Double harmonic scale on Wikipedia). The Bhairav raga of Indian classical music shares the same shape as well.

Why so many names? Because this striking sound, with its two augmented seconds, grew up separately across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and South Asia. Knowing that the names differ while the notes stay the same keeps you from getting lost in the labeling. This site treats it under the neutral theory term “double harmonic.”

An important caveat: this is not real maqam

Here is the most important — and most often misunderstood — point. The “Arabic scale” you can play on a keyboard is not actual Arabic music itself.

Real Arabic music rests on a system of modes called maqam, and many of them use quarter tones — pitches that sit between the keys of a piano, splitting a half step in half (see Arabic maqam on Wikipedia). A twelve-tone equal-tempered instrument like a piano or guitar cannot reproduce these subtle intervals. Only fretless instruments such as the oud and violin, or microtonal instruments such as the nay and qanun, can render the true sound.

So this twelve-tone “Arabic scale” is a Western tool for approximating the sound of maqam and evoking its mood — it is not a substitute for the real thing. Treating it as a way to borrow that atmosphere, rather than as the maqam system itself, is both accurate and respectful of the music.

Where you hear it

That augmented-second sound has long been a shortcut for raising an “exotic scene” instantly in film, games, and pop. You hear it in scores depicting deserts and oases, marketplaces, and ancient ruins, and it also shows up in metal and surf rock when a “Middle-Eastern” flavor is the goal. When something strikes you as vaguely Arabian, look for a large augmented-second leap hidden in the melody — this scale is often there.

For composing: an exotic mood, fast

When you want to add an exotic, Middle-Eastern flavor to an original tune, the Arabic scale is one of the shortest routes.

• Just take your usual major scale and lower the 2nd and 6th by a half step, and the whole mood changes
• Deliberately move through the leaps Db→E and Ab→B in the melody, and the exotic color comes out strongest
• Using it everywhere can feel heavy-handed, so it works well to switch to the Arabic scale only for a chorus or a specific scene

For listening: hearing what makes it exotic

When something feels “foreign,” the cause is usually the large augmented-second leap. Adjacent note names that are nonetheless three half steps apart — that mismatched gap catches the ear and reads as unfamiliar, and so as exotic. Train your ear on these “a step on paper, but a big jump” moves like Db→E and Ab→B, and you will start spotting Arabic-scale songs yourself.

What to try next

In the Scale Dictionary, keep the same root and toggle between major and double harmonic, and listen to the moment the landscape shifts from just lowering the 2nd and 6th. Then play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in the Arabic scale and hear how completely a familiar melody transforms. Finally, remember that this is an approximation of a mood, not real maqam — and the right place to use it as a “scale that borrows the exotic” comes into focus.

→ Play the Arabic scale (double harmonic) in the Scale Dictionary