Chord Colors

D♯ Persian scale

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About the D sharp Persian scale

D sharp Persian is used for Middle Eastern flavored and film music. Think of it as a dramatic seven-note scale with a flat second, flat fifth and flat sixth.

Its notes are D, E, F♯♯, G, A, B, and C♯♯. The formula is H 1½ H H W 1½ H.

Learn more about the D♯ Persian scale

An unfretted guitar already sounds E, A, D, G, and B from the mode. The 6th fret of the A string is the lowest D on the neck. Placed at the first fret, a capo lets D Persian be played with D-shape fingerings.

Positions

Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.

CAGED

Five shapes, each anchored to a chord form you already know, the pop and rock default that ties your scales to your chords. The outlined notes are that chord, so you can see the C, A, G, E, and D shapes inside the scale.

D shapeopen
C shapefr 3
A shapefr 5
G shapefr 8
E shapefr 10
3NPS

3NPS stands for 3 notes per string. It lays the scale out in seven even shapes for rock and metal lead, and favors speed because the picking pattern stays consistent across every string.

Shape 1open
Shape 2fr 2
Shape 3fr 4
Shape 4fr 5
Shape 5fr 7
Shape 6fr 9
Shape 7fr 11
7-position system

7 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.

Position 1open
Position 2fr 3
Position 3fr 4
Position 4fr 5
Position 5fr 7
Position 6fr 10
Position 7fr 11

Notes and intervals

1D#D♯Root
2EEMinor 2nd
3F##F♯♯Major 3rd
4G#G♯Perfect 4th
5AADiminished 5th
6BBMinor 6th
7C##C♯♯Major 7th
StepsH 1½ H H W 1½ H
Semitones1-3-1-1-2-3-1
Degrees1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Persian in other keys

Embed this scale

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Eb Persian scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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