Chord Colors

G♯ Miyako-bushi (Japanese) scale

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About the G sharp Miyako-bushi (Japanese) scale

G sharp Miyako-bushi (Japanese) is used for traditional Japanese melodies. Think of it as a Japanese five-note scale built on a spare flat second and flat sixth, the sound of the koto's kumoi-joshi tuning. It is G Phrygian Pentatonic with the seventh lowered.

Its notes are G, A, C, D, and E. The formula is H 4 semitones W H 4 semitones. It is the fifth mode of A Chinese.

Also called Sakura and In Scale.

Learn more about the G♯ Miyako-bushi (Japanese) scale

The key shares E and A with the guitar's open strings. A guitarist finds the lowest G at the 4th fret of the low E string. Capo the first fret to play G Miyako-bushi (Japanese) with G-shape fingerings.

Positions

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

Pentatonic boxes

The five shapes blues and rock are built on, the first scale most guitarists ever solo with, one box per note up the neck.

Box 1open
Box 2fr 4
Box 3fr 5
Box 4fr 9
Box 5fr 11

Notes and intervals

1G#G♯Root
2AAMinor 2nd
3C#C♯Perfect 4th
4D#D♯Perfect 5th
5EEMinor 6th
StepsH 4 semitones W H 4 semitones
Semitones1-4-2-1-4
Degrees1 2 4 5 6

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

Miyako-bushi (Japanese) in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

Ab Miyako-bushi (Japanese) scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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