Blues Major

No third, no flat seventh

The scale contains a root, a second, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth. Neither of the notes that would declare a quality is present, so like the Egyptian it is a suspended sound — but the sixth rather than the flat seventh at the top places it firmly on the bright side of neutral.

In practice it behaves as a major pentatonic that has traded its third for a fourth. That one substitution removes the sweetness of the ordinary shape and leaves something plainer, which is exactly why folk traditions reach for it.

Ritsu and the Japanese system

The name Ritusen comes from ritsu, one of the two principal scale types in Japanese court and folk music. This set of intervals is identical to the yo scale that also appears in this family, and the duplication is real rather than an error in the catalogue: two naming traditions arrived at the same five notes.

Where the names differ is in use. Ritsu describes a category within a system that also includes ryo, while yo names the bright pentatonic in opposition to the darker in scale. The intervals are the same and the melodic conventions attached to them are not.

How it is used

The major blues scale suits sus chords, quartal harmony and anything where a third would close the sound down. Guitarists reach it by moving one finger in the major pentatonic shape, which makes it the cheapest available change of colour in that position.

Composers use it where a melody should read as folk-like without belonging to any identifiable folk tradition. The absent third is what produces that placelessness.

Confusions and neighbours

The name misleads twice: it is not a blues scale, and it is not major in the sense of containing a major third. Read it as a label for the fourth rotation and the confusion disappears.

It is identical in content to the yo scale, and a rotation of the major pentatonic, the minor pentatonic, the Egyptian and the blues minor. Five names, one set of five notes, five different starting points.

Frequently asked questions