Exotic Scales For Guitar Pt.1 - Japanese Scales Guitar Lesson

Click the link above to download the TAB PDF for this lesson.

Premium subscribers also get some nice perks on the site as well. Thanks!! Carl..

Lesson Taught by: Carl Brown

This free video guitar lesson will introduce you to the incredible sound of exotic scales on the guitar.

You can hear this type of playing in players from Marty Friedman and Jason Becker to many jazz guitar greats.

In this video guitar lesson I will show you 5 different scales that comes from Japan. These exotic sounding scales can sound very unique and beautiful when used in the proper context. You will also find many of them contain quite a bit of dissonance which helps shake things up a bit with your creativity and sense of melody.

All of these Japanese scales are a subset of the pentatonic scale. They all contain only 5 tones each. It is important for you to create your won pentatonic scale shapes using the scale formulas for any of the scales that you like the sound of. The TAB PDF that comes with this lesson will have a complete scale formula breakdown for each scale.

You can even use some of your familiar two notes per string pentatonic licks using these scales instead to REALLY give your improvisations a quick boost.

Enjoy! Carl..

[Shq]

My guitar teacher jokingly said to learn the Japanese scale. Now I'm here.

[psychofunksoldier]

The way you laid out the tab is awesome! Alot of guitar lesson video show licks and scales but not how to use them. Thank you!

[fierceblade]

They used this type of scale in old 80's shows like knight rider to add mystery and nervousness to scenes

[sergio_jose]

Awesome, i'll definitely be using these scales:P please do more exotic scales! Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, endless possibilities:P

[commandhtf]

Please listen to Japanese guitar players like Takeshi Terauchi, Nobuhiro Mine, or Munetaka Inoue enka; Japanese enka singers like Yoko Nagayama, Itsuki Hiroshi, Yoshio Tabata, Jero, or some other more traditional folks like Michio Miyagi, Kimio Eto, or Tadao Sawai if you wanna get an idea of what REAL JAPANESE MUSIC sounds like if you want to learn Japanese scales or style.

You're welcome.

[alexfischer]

Really cool to see a vid like this, I think the first one sounds the most 'Japanese'. I always think of it as a major scale with no root or 5th.

[StrikeOnDrifter]

Yes! This is just what i needed. I recently been looking up exotic scales on the web, and this lesson really helps. Thank you and please keep these lessons coming.

[reptilicus]

Nice lesson, and thanks for not saturating the scales w/overdrive like most clowns do.

[pedroo]

beautiful scales! great job: simple, clear and short.

[bartolo]

helping people even today
thanks carl

[gtbtone]

Thank you so much for uploading those PDFs. You're the man. Subscribed!

[TomGoldsmithguitar]

Makes me realise that on it's own, pentatonic stuff sounds like the cultural vibe u get when you play all black keys on a piano

[Pianodog]

@dreadfullscout1234 Truly, most arabic scales include quarter tones or "Prebent notes"
Bayati for example would have a quarter step bent 2nd fret note as the second degree of the scale. Would you like to know more, I've got a blog I'm writing about this sort of thing. There are arabic scales without quarter tone bends but they are scales such as the persian for example. ^^

[KomangTriLugiantara]

cool! maybe for your info, idk but i feel the scale is same with sundanese folk music from West Java, Indonesia.

[an_kitkashyap]

I don't know, but the two guitar players that I remember using these scales are Marty Friedman and Jason Becker

[rampage]

very interesting sounding scales. already knew of the hirajoshi because of my multiple failed attempts at the ninja solo, lol. might use some of these from this series to spice up my improv phrasing. thanks

[ElleEllie]

amazing! this is just so perfect for me. thanks so much for the video and the pdf. it helps me so much. thankyou!!!

[TheSunMoon]

This scale directly influenced one of my songs, it's on my channel, titled "Miburo". Nothing spectacular though lol!

[ElGbayRGX]

Very nice man thanks for the lessson !!

[Deathshuck]

Hey Carl, I've watched tons of videos and learned a lot but this was one of the best videos (in my opinion) I'd love to learn more exotic stuff, Indian, Chinese, Eqyptian and the list goes on... please take that into consideration, I think a lot of people would like to get away from the standards pentatonic scales etc.