Neapolitan scale

Neapolitan minor scale on C  Play .

Neapolitan major scale on C  Play .

In music, the major Neapolitan scale and the minor Neapolitan scale are two musical scales. Both scales are minor, despite their names.

The sequence of scale steps for the Neapolitan minor is as follows:^[1][2][3][4]

1  b2  b3 4  5  b6 7  8
A  Bb  C  D  E  F  G# A

[H, W, W, W, H, WH, H

C  Db  Eb F  G  Ab B  C]

And for the Neapolitan major:^[1][2][3][4]

1  b2  b3 4  5  6  7  8
A  Bb  C  D  E  F# G# A

[H, W, W, W, W, W, H

C  Db  Eb F  G  A  B  C]

The scales are distinguished from the harmonic and ascending melodic minor scales by the lowered supertonic or second scale degree.

Both are accompanied well by power or minor chords.^[1]

The neapolitan major scale is an excellent choice for the 9#11/b13 (no 5) chord. In the case of the C neapolitan major listed the choice would be F9#11/b13(no 5). This scale contains all the alterations and the perfect 5th. A whole tone scale is often used but it lacks the perfect 5th that the neapolitan major contains.

The 5th mode of the Neapolitan major is also known as the major Locrian scale.

See also

• Neapolitan chord
• Neapolitan school

Sources

1. 1 2 3 Celentano, Dave (1991). Monster Scales and Modes, p.44. Published by CentreStream. ISBN 0-931759-59-5.
2. 1 2 Burrows, Terry (1999). How to Read Music: Reading Music Made Simple, p.90. ISBN 9780312241599.
3. 1 2 Roth, Dana (2011). Encyclopedia of Scales and Modes for Electric Bass, p.9. ISBN 9781609749767.
4. 1 2 Blatter, Alfred (2012). Revisiting Music Theory: A Guide to the Practice, p.87 & 89. ISBN 9781135870393.

Further reading

• Hewitt, Michael. Musical Scales of the World, . The Note Tree. 2013. ISBN 978-0957547001.