About the E Spanish Heptatonic scale
E Spanish Heptatonic is used for flamenco and Spanish-flavored music. Think of it as the Spanish gypsy scale, a phrygian dominant filled out to eight notes. It is E Bebop Locrian with the fourth lowered.
Its notes are E, F, G, G♯, A, B, C, and D. The formula is H W H H W H W W. It is the third mode of C Bebop Major.
Also called Flamenco Scale and Spanish Eight-Tone.
E, A, D, G, and B are open guitar strings that sit inside this scale, ready to drone under a riff. The open low E string is the lowest E on the neck. A full root-to-root octave of E Spanish Heptatonic fits within the first three frets, so it has a real open-position box.
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 | EE | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | FF | Minor 2nd |
| 3 | GG | Minor 3rd |
| 4 | G#G♯ | Major 3rd |
| 5 | AA | Perfect 4th |
| 6 | BB | Perfect 5th |
| 7 | CC | Minor 6th |
| 8 | DD | Minor 7th |
| Steps | H W H H W H W W |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 1-2-1-1-2-1-2-2 |
| Degrees | 1 ♭2 ♭3 3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Spanish Heptatonic in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.
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