Ever wondered what could be the darkest exotic scale? The double harmonic major scale is a good contender. Also (debatably improperly) known as the Gypsy Major, Arabic, or Byzantine scale, it is built by flatting 2 of the intervals of the diatonic major scale: the ii and the vi.

This creates a pair of augmented second intervals, turning the major scale into a longing, melancholy, vaguely-eastern sounding monstrosity. In the key of C, the notes of the scale are as follows:

C – Db – E – F – G – Ab – B – C

I was inspired enough upon learning about this scale to hack together a short piece of electronic music to demonstrate the kind of mood it creates, and in this short video you can hear the notes of the scale on piano as well as that piece of music lovingly entitled “Living Space: Extended.”

That’s all on the double harmonic major scale for now- be careful with this one, kids 🙂