This lesson explains how to play the Josh Homme scale on guitar. Josh Homme is a guitarist mostly known for his work with Queens of the Stone Age.

QOTSA’s songs feature many classic guitar riffs which sometimes result in Josh Homme’s lead guitar playing getting over looked.

A student of mine recently sent me this fantastic interview in which Josh Homme explains what is known on the internet as the ‘Josh Homme scale’.

This article aims to shed some light on the Josh Homme scale so that you can use to better your own improvisational skills.

On the video Josh Homme says that he adjusted the blues scale to get this cool sounding scale.

Although it is easy to see how you could adjust the blues scale to the John Homme scale, the blues scale doesn’t really have much to do with the harmony of the new scale.

Though there is no mention of it on the video, the scale which he plays could be thought of as a Hungarian Major, Mixolydian #2 #4 or Lydian Dominant #2.

I personally like Lydian #2 because it is self explanatory. Check out this link for more less common modes.

Lydian Dominant #2 Formula: R, #2, 3, #4, 5, 6 7

Lydian Dominant #2 in D: D, F, F#, #G, A, B, C

Josh Homme Scale — Lydian Dominant #2

Though this is a cool scale that can be used in modern jazz guitar soloing, it might not sound like the Josh Homme scale at first.

This is because he mostly uses a two note per string pattern based of this scale shown in the diagram below. Josh actually plays this exact figure around 4.01 in the video.

To conclude this Josh Homme guitar scale article here is a lick that he uses at 3.53 in the interview. This lick is based of the two note per string scale shame above.

All the other licks that he plays in the video are based of this shape and are well worth learning.

Josh Homme Scale Patterns

To get the most out this cool sounding Josh Homme scale I recommend playing it different areas on the guitar neck, applying it different keys, and using it in tunes that you are working on.

The diagram below shows how the 2 note per string scale pattern in different areas of the neck.

The formula for this scale pattern is: b7th, R, 3rd, #4, 5th, 6th, 8th and #9.