Branching out into diverse musical styles is crucial for any guitarist looking to expand their creative horizons. Exploring genres beyond the usual rock, blues, or pop can unlock new sounds and techniques, enriching your overall musicianship. Arabic music, with its distinctive melodic character, offers a wealth of inspiration for guitar players. While it might seem complex, incorporating Arabic Guitar scales into your playing is more accessible than you think. This lesson introduces a straightforward method to infuse your guitar solos and improvisations with an authentic Arabic flavor, starting with a simple modification to a scale you likely already know.
The key to unlocking Arabic sounds on your guitar lies in a subtle yet effective adjustment to the familiar A Minor Pentatonic scale. Often used in blues, rock, and countless other genres, the minor pentatonic provides a solid foundation. To create an “Arabic” version, we make just two changes: remove the flat 7th (b7) degree and add the natural 2nd degree. This might appear to be a minor alteration, but it significantly shifts the scale’s character, pushing you beyond typical pentatonic patterns and encouraging you to explore new melodic ideas. This modified scale encourages more deliberate note choices and naturally evokes a distinctively Middle Eastern sound. Experiment with the following diagram over an A drone to hear the unique flavor of this Arabic-inspired scale.
This modified A Minor Pentatonic scale becomes a versatile tool wherever you would typically use the standard pentatonic. Imagine applying it over common chord progressions in A minor, such as Am, Dm, F, G, or C. While perhaps not suited for traditional blues contexts, this Arabic guitar scale will open up exciting new melodic possibilities in various musical settings.
To further explore the potential of this scale, try mapping it across the guitar fretboard for 12 frets. Then, begin experimenting with chord voicings derived exclusively from the notes within this scale. You’ll recognize some familiar chord shapes, but the real discovery comes from exploring four-note clusters and unconventional combinations. Don’t worry about labeling every chord; focus on the unique sonic textures you create. This process will deepen your understanding of the scale’s harmonic possibilities and inspire new chord progressions in your playing. The diagram below illustrates the scale across the fretboard, and remember that open strings in the key of A can also be incorporated, as five out of six open strings are scale tones.
Arabic Guitar Scale: A Minor Pentatonic Modification – Guitar Tab Diagram. Learn how to play Arabic-sounding guitar scales by modifying the A minor pentatonic scale, as shown in this fretboard diagram for guitar players.
If you’re eager to delve deeper into Arabic guitar scales and other exotic scales, explore resources like our Intermediate Guitar Scales Handbook – Exotic Scales Edition or Alternative Pentatonics, which offers 28 additional pentatonic scales and chord suggestions for practice.
For inspiring listening, check out the music of Yazz Ahmed, whose work beautifully blends jazz with Arabic musical traditions.
