Maqam (Arabic) · Exotic · dramatic
Hijaz Scale
Hijaz is the sound most people picture when they imagine “Middle Eastern” music. The dramatic augmented 2nd between its flat-2nd and major-3rd creates an exotic, evocative tension found across Arabic, Turkish, Andalusian and even flamenco music. It contains no quarter-tones, so it sits comfortably on a guitar or piano.
Open the interactive Hijaz scale →On the piano keyboard
Hijaz scale shown on C
RootScale tone
Hijaz scale on every key — keyboard diagrams
C
Db
D
Eb
E
F
F#
G
Ab
A
Bb
B
Hijaz scale in every key
| Key | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C | Db | E | F | G | Ab | Bb |
| Db | Db | D | F | Gb | Ab | A | B |
| D | D | Eb | F# | G | A | Bb | C |
| Eb | Eb | E | G | Ab | Bb | B | Db |
| E | E | F | G# | A | B | C | D |
| F | F | Gb | A | Bb | C | Db | Eb |
| F# | F# | G | A# | B | C# | D | E |
| G | G | Ab | B | C | D | Eb | F |
| Ab | Ab | A | C | Db | Eb | E | Gb |
| A | A | Bb | C# | D | E | F | G |
| Bb | Bb | B | D | Eb | F | Gb | Ab |
| B | B | C | D# | E | F# | G | A |
Popular songs in this scale
A curated list of well-known songs built on the Hijaz is coming soon.
Coming soon