About the A sharp Ichikosucho (Japanese) scale
A sharp Ichikosucho (Japanese) is used for traditional Japanese and film music. Think of it as a major scale with an added flat fifth passing tone. It is A♯ Bebop Major with the sixth lowered.
Its notes are A♯, B♯, D, D♯, E, E♯, G, and A. The formula is W W H H H W W H. It is the fourth mode of E♯ Bebop Dominant.
E, A, D, and G are open guitar strings that sit inside the key, ready to drone under a riff. The lowest A♯ on a standard-tuned guitar sits at the 1st fret of the A string. This mode plays in open position, a whole octave of the scale falling within the first three frets.
Positions
Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.
8-position system
8 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.
Notes and intervals
| 1 | A#A♯ | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | B#B♯ | Major 2nd |
| 3 | DD | Major 3rd |
| 4 | D#D♯ | Perfect 4th |
| 5 | EE | Diminished 5th |
| 6 | E#E♯ | Perfect 5th |
| 7 | GG | Major 6th |
| 8 | AA | Major 7th |
| Steps | W W H H H W W H |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 2-2-1-1-1-2-2-1 |
| Degrees | 1 2 3 4 ♭5 5 6 7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Ichikosucho (Japanese) in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.
Embed this scale
