The Surf Rock Exotic Scale: The BYZANTINE Scale
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.พ. 2025
- musictheoryforg... Do you think that exotic scales can be used only in 'strange-sounding' music and that is really hard to write melodies with them?
Well, the scale we see today has been used in the song "Miserlou". The famous surf rock version by Dick Dale has been featured in the movie Pulp Fiction (if you don't know the song, I play it at the beginning of the video)
The scale used is called the "Byzantine scale", it's very easy to use and fun to play! Whether you know your scales well or not, you will pick up this one in just a few minutes.
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As noted by a few others this is also a Greek scale and an Egyptian scale. It is also an Arabian scale and even one of the Indian Ragas if I remember correctly. Regardless, it's been one of my favorite scales since I first learned it as a kid, so it's great to have this lesson on how to better harmonize with it. My favorite thing about music is how the different sounds travel around the world and are interpreted differently. Excellent lesson as always, thank you. ^-^
Yes ,in carnatic music(a type of indian raaga),we learn this scale for first.this one called as Mayamalavagowla
I think Bhairav thaat is double harmonic major mode.
Oddly, you neglected to mention Byzantine
Go back far enough and all those places were under the jurisdiction of Byzantium.
BYZANTINE.
sounds relatively close enough to spanish-style phrygian mode... but it's significantly spicier! love it!
There are plenty of places you can mix them up too.
its the same scale only the seventh note on the major scale is also flattened
It is. It the Double Harmonic major very close to the Flamenco Phyrigian. Lisen to Pepe Habichuela's Soléa. It alternates between them both
@@stevestevestevesteve6466 Yes, a mode of the Harmonic Minor but also if you sharpen the 7th it becomes the Dpuble Harmonic Major, which is often used to give a deeper feel. Pepe Habicheula's "Solea" is a good example.
Phryigian dominant with a raised 7 so yeah that would make sense
This does kinda explain why surf rock seems so familiar. It's all about that wine dark sea!
buddy, when you played the F augmented my heart skipped a beat, really that was so sweet that I couldn't believe
Wtf are all of these letters? My guitar has dots and strings.
Joe Smith lmao their different types of chords, just look up a video of just the chords and memorize them before u try this
@@michaeljoefox k
@@sirjakers1836 he's just some non musician who pretends to play the guitar
@@michaeljoefox ask Joe
Very very famous greek boozooki scale hijazscjar( χιτζαζσκιάρ ) my favourite one
I'm from Balkan, so this kind of music sounds very familiar to me, and I am fan of modal scales, but the way you explain it is really great! It's like: scale, resulting chords, main chords, resulting arpeggios.
Most of those I understand by ear, but when I recently tried to grab the accompanient of a Roumanian song, I had such a hard time.
Thank you!
This scale has so many ways to create - fascinating
The Byzantine scale is the "better" phrygian scale. I LOVE that raised 3rd
And the raised 7th too!!
Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb dose that explain it foke why sounds like other Mideastern scales
If I'm right, this scale is also called the Double Harmonic scale (for hopefully obvious reasons) and this is the scale Hans Zimmer used for his Dune soundtrack
Sounds right to me.
"Double" harmonic because you've shift both the third and the 7th to create additional tension and pull towards the root or fifth for resolve.
I'm pretty much clueless, but at around 2:27 I paused the video and grabbed my ukulele and started imatating that A to Bb down, up, and around the neck, A to Bb, occasionally reversing to Bb to A, and now I'm apparently addicted 😂, but now it's nearly 2am so I need to wait until the neighbors wake up before I work out the rest of the video 😊. Thank you.
Muse should make a song with the Byzantine scale it fits them so well
Do you check your comments regularly? Or did I just comment at a perfect time
Nice profile
Just what I needed, thanks 😊
Great explanation, and having the aural examples included takes it to the next level. Thanks Tommaso!
How do You know his name?
@@markiyanhapyak349 he has said it in other videos
I'm( quite) surprised . . . . . He would repeat it... .
Excellent !!!!
this is the most underrated video of the whole music theory based all :)
wow! thanks, you just made "everything click into place" in my mind (i had some music theory knowledge before, probably fitting chords on an exotic scale hammered the last nail)
Brilliant. So clear and I recommend his diminished 7 lesson. I lost 3 hours converting CAmFG into something quite incredible.
I´ve been on a trail looking for the correct name for this scale. I´m writing something that i thought was going to be a bluesy funky groove, but playing on top of the chords this is what fits best. Thanks Tommaso.
You’re a very straightforward, gifted and sympathetic teacher. World-class!
I love playing around with this scale on my diaronic harmonicas. I discovered it years ago when I was first learning how to play chromatically on my diatonic harmonicas. I know this as the Phrygian Dominant scale of. I tend to think more and more in scale degrees. Paul Butterfield, Bloomfield and company made great use of this scale in Butter's "East/West" performances and recordings. Thank you for sharing this information. I don't play a note on strings, but the theory is handy to know and work with.
The Phrygian Dominant is a different scale. The A Phrygian Dominant would have a natural G, not the G# of the Byzantine scale.
If you play the song from the beginning a bit slower and with a slightly different rhythm you get the traditional Serbian song “Volela me jedna vranjanka” also known as “Lela Vranjanka”. This song was performed for example by Staniša Stošić.
"Lela Vranjanka" is written by Dragoljub Toković ~30 years ago.
@@aleksandarurka8663 The song is from 1972. It is 51 years old (2023), not 30.
One of my favorite modes!
I accidentally discovered this scale today and googled what this scale is based on notes and i figured out while doodling with it that it is all the notes of Miserlou and OMFG now i searched it on youtube and you say its used in that song!?
Have always liked to modulate briefly to this scale, but never knew what to call it. Great for that "mystical" vibe.
Music to my ears
thank you master you you have taught me how to make music and be proud of yourself cuz you helped to make a new music genre
Wow I absolutely love this style of teaching scales. Great video!!!
I've been making music using this theory for years, before ever knowing the names and theory behind it all. Amazing
Love the way your videos are always chock full of useful and fun ideas, and are presented clearly without wasting endless minutes rambling on like so many video tutorials seem to do.
Dude you're always educating the internet with something rare, thanks
I also love your examples for nice cadences
I just found your channel and its the best! A little trivia for you, this scale in Greek is called "Hidjazkiar" or smth like that, there is also the "Hidjaz" which is exactly the same, although the 7th note is a natural G! Good work.
We have the same Hicazkâr and Hicaz makams (scales) in Turkish makam music aswell.
If the 7th note is G that would just be Phrygian dominant which is the 5th mode of the harmonic minor scale
In a scale, if one single note is different, then this is not "exactly the same".
These eastern European styles of music are based on turkish maqam music. Due to this, scales are not static but built up by tetra chords. Every tetra chord has is own set of motifs and rules of usage. For example if the VII is approached from below it can be sharpened but if it is approached from the top in a cadential phrase it is always minor. Have a look for explanation of the klezmer modes, It is a real interesting way to approach music but hard for a westerner to wrap your mind around.
No hidjaz and hidjazkiar are the Arabic names. In Greek the names are pretty disputed but expect something like ‘plagal 4th enharmonic mode’.
EDIT: even though the Arabic names are colloquially used among Greek folk musicians
That was a perfect video, maybe slow the pace a touch. but brilliant.
esp the half step relationships at the end.
the most useful 7 min music vid ever seen.
Thank you!!
Ritchie Blackmore uses this scale a lot, too -- Stargazer and Gates of Babylon (Rainbow) are really good examples of this scale in use
I love that scale.
Super Fab.
way u SYNC SOUNDS
with VISUAL cues
Helps a lot.
Thanksa ton... You rock
I knew this one as the Phrygian Dominant scale, I'm glad I've got this video to show me how to use it better
This is a different scale. The Phrygian Dominant has a natural G.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar Oh derp, that's right, I just tried it on my guitar and realized the difference
I Come from Greece, what an interesting lesson! Misirlou original is also great!
I have been struggling with a music I created while ringing a D drone in the background. Thanks to this lesson I might be able experiment with. Thanks a lot man!! love your channel a lot
I love the darkness in this scale
I just took a Phrygian dominant and sharpened the seventh. I’ve just been calling it Phrygian dominant harmonic minor (even though it’s not really minor, but the last 4 notes are the same). It’s cool finding out its name.
Wonderful lesson ! Thanks.
Wow. A huge THANK YOU. You must be a god, such nice explanations!!
Thanks 💟🙏
This is by far the best music channel on TH-cam! Everything you present is instantly applicable to the guitar, it’s not just running through the theory or showing one position of the scale up and down! For months I’ve been trying to utilize some exotic scales within a jazz rock fusion context but I haven’t found any lessons that teach how to actually make music with them... which is ultimately what the goal should be. And I’m also Italian myself! I was born here in America but I’m 100% Sicilian. What part of Italy are you from?
And also instantly applicable to piano as well
I ve started learning piano 2 months ago and his music theory teaching is amazing and helps me a lot to understand music
Bless him to share his knowledge with so much humility
@@chrisdesign3914 Agreed! I played piano for awhile and stupidly gave it up when I started guitar. Some truly great resources on YT if you’re willing to look, good luck with your musical endeavors.
@@mononoaware1960 TH-cam got amazing music teachers
Here you can learn so much about music and within 2 months I can build any chords scales chords progression
Exotic scales thanks him
Harmony and negative harmony
Chromatic medians
And so
And most of that is coming from his video
Bless him
@@chrisdesign3914 Awesome! Keep going, it only gets better from here.
Great video, as always! I'm glad you omitted the background music you had in earlier videos. It was distracting, and now it's easier to focus on your excellent lesson
it is funny how youtube also recommended Byzantine chants in addition to this great lesson , awesome stuff
Thank you so much!
This is what I needed today, inspiration found!
Liszt uses this scale in Hungarian Rhapsody no. 13. I'm sure he uses it elsewhere, but I have read the music and played it from there. That is the earliest instance that I have seen it.
Wonderful tutorial. I have always simply enjoyed this type of music with these scales. I never really knew what it was called. Thank you for this awesome explanation, it was truly an "eye opener". Kind regards.
Thanks for educating me in topics I otherwise would never have learned! Diffinitly gonna use it somewhen
Excellent, thank you.
Quite interesting. I’m going to have to watch this several times! Definitely interested in the master of the modes course.
Do you understand what he's teaching? It seeems you are the only other person in the comments section who isn't saying "Oh that's also known as a whoop-de-doo-dah in the upside down position with a raised 7"
And the ones who obviously understand because they say they learned something. I learned I know nothing. Not a position I'm comfortable with.
Have you managed to learn this modal stuff? Makes my head hurt.
Excellent. Sounds so good! Really loving Master of the Modes course.
well its been 10 months since your post. I was wondering if you kept it up and what you opinion is on the value of it compared to the price. I am thinking about their blues Cours , but it seems pricey to me.
I really liked this video. I'm going to try writing some music with the Byzatine scale, even some surf music.
Grandissimo ottima lezione!
Very helpful! Thank you ❤️
Brilliant explanation !
FYI, this scale is close the the one in Raag Bhairav in Indian Classical Music(Hindustani).
This is also called the double harmonic scale, Mayamalavagowla, Bhairav Raga, Arabic (Hijaz Kar) and Gypsy major.
Good call. I thought I remembered it being one of the Ragas as well.
Great info.
Great Lesson. I use to call this scale Phrygian Dominant, as a fifth degree of minor harmonic scale.
This is Hungarian minor I believe
Si it's the Neapolitan scale with the maj 3rd instead of the min 3rd. Great. One more scale up my sleeve. BTW Neapolitan is my favorite scale because of the sharp 7 and the flat 2 which create a series of 3 consecutive semi-tone. Dissonance is so awesome ;)
Great video! Thanks
I learned something today. Thanks!
Thank you soooo much for the video. I liked it very much!!
Very enjoyable. Lovely explanations and great sounds.
Man thats it!!! Sounds superb!!!
Great info, great channel. Thanks.
This scale is ½ - 1½ - ½ - 1 - ½ - 1½ - ½ This scale is called Sozdalar when based on A note. When transposed on C note it is called Hejaz Kar. When transposed on D it is called Shahinaz and when transposed on G it is called Shat Araban. The different names seems coming from different countries.
Cool 😎 cheers from Portugal 🇵🇹
awesome! yes double harmonic... I like surf exotic so I can remember :)
Brilliant, as always.
Great teacher!
Thanks man top stuff
You could also do tritone substitutions from Bb7 to A
A video like this on the Anchi Hoye scale would be great!
Just to add my fifty cents: in the original sense, there are actually many, many Byzantine scales (more usually called modes or tones). Byzantine music is a really rich modal system. The so-called "Byzantine scale" is a westernized approximation of a mode called "second plagal", or "plagius of the second", which curiously is traditionally reckoned to be sorrowful and even funereal. It is used, for example, in the "Simeron krematai", a hymn mourning the crucifixion of Christ.
b2 b6 Also known as Oriental Scale. Very well explained, thanks!
Or the double harmonic major, no?
I've found the tritone substitution of main-but-missing V7 (dominant chord) of A byzantine scale, Bb7 (actually it's like Bb Ger+6, Bb-D-F-G# ; real Bb7 is Bb-D-F-Ab). It fits perfectly as what normal dominant does.
Main dom : E7 -> A (thx to the G# and D)
Sub. dom (subV7) Bb7 -> A (although Bb and F are also in this scale, the tritone D-G# is resolvable to C#-A (A major))
So, we can use Bb7 if E7/b5 is very weird to use.
Great explaination of chord substitution on an exotic scale!
Hicaz - harmonik minor - phyrgian dominant
Phyrigian Dominant sounds too simple. People like to keep it complicated so it seems as though they know more theory than they really do.
4:45
you know how to make a guitar _sing,_ good sir
great great!!!!
Great video
This is off the topic of the video BUT Yes another post...hehe Tomasso have you heard or studied The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization developed by George Russell. I was taught this a long time ago and forgotten about it till I went through all my college and observatory books and materials and is really fascinating and inspired me for jazz compositions I have played and still it shows up a bit in my rock guitar as well as classical pieces I played and studied. Yes I may be giving away my age a bit and this nickname I am under on TH-cam is my professional studio guitarist name I go by. Sometime I would like to email you and write you about many topics..as a theorist, teacher, composer and just a guitarist always seeking knowledge!! BTW I have tried your video courses as well. It isn't under this stage name but under my real name. Have a wonderful day!
Excellent vid, amazing sounds. You could make a whole series with exotic scales!
I, bii dim, iv, V. I think this scale is made by combining a Major 1 chord and Minor 4 chord. The #7 indicates the 5 chord is Major. The b2 indicates the 5 chord is Diminished but I call it a Diminished 2 chord in this case.
This video is great! I am just being technical and I really love how you explain different musical concepts in an easy to grasp quickly in all your videos! BUT this being technical is the Hungarian minor fifth mode and is known well by music theorist and many guitarist as the Double Harmonic scale. ( I am a Professor of Music at a reputable school. ) I am saying that calling it the Byzantine scale or Gypsy scale is not wrong but maybe people( guitarist or other instruments ) would know it easier by its real formula 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 7 as the Double Harmonic scale just so they don't get it mixed up with Gregorian Chant or any other form. Keep putting out your awesome videos! I really enjoy them a lot! : )
Nicely explained; well done!
Amazing!
Great explanation!
I've been playing Misirlou forever but it wasn't very long ago that I realized that scale contains three half steps in a row (around the root.)
Those three seps are great for candencing. The middle note or root can go up to the b2 and resolve down again or go down and up again. Win win.
I wish I could communicate like this. But none of it "sticks". Not anymore.
I suddenly realised halfway through this that this is the scale used for the theme tune to the Bond Film "From Russia With Love". Now of course, that film is mostly set in Istanbul (formerly Byzantium!) so the choice makes sense!
Didn't realize that! I'll have to go an re-listen to it. Thanks!
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar Listening to it now, it seems to modulate around the place, but definitely uses the Byzantine scale as a motif.
I love this channel!!!
Tommaso...I really enjoyed this video!! ( please read my other comments as well )...will in your videos put the scales also in the format ..Tonic or 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 7 formula as well as the Roman numerals for the Chords e.g. I ii and so on. Especially the number format so it can easily be transposed to other Tonics.
This is off the topic of the video BUT Yes another post...hehe Tomasso have you heard or studied The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization developed by George Russell. I was taught this a long time ago and forgotten about it till I went through all my college and observatory books and materials and is really fascinating and inspired me for jazz compositions I have played and still it shows up a bit in my rock guitar as well as classical pieces I played and studied. Yes I may be giving away my age a bit and this nickname I am under on TH-cam is my professional studio guitarist name I go by. Sometime I would like to email you and write you about many topics..as a theorist, teacher, composer and just a guitarist always seeking knowledge!! BTW I took both your video courses with the PDFs and all that GREAT instructional video formats well. It isn't under this stage name but under my real name. Have a wonderful day!
Love it!! Thank you!!
Respects
great tutorial!
Great video...thank you for sharing it with us!