A♭ Neapolitan majorScale

Formula

H W W W W W H 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7
The family

A♭ Neapolitan major on the chromatic circle

A♭ Neapolitan major is one of the exotic scales. Pick another note on the circle to open the scale that starts there.

H W W W W W H 1 A♭I Neapolitan major ♭2 B𝄫II ♭3 C♭III 4 D♭IV 5 E♭V 6 FVI 7 GVII A♭ Neapolitan major
The whole neck

A♭ Neapolitan major across the fretboard

Every note of the scale up to the 16th fret, named by its degree. The root is a ring. Step through the five CAGED positions one at a time in the scale library.

3 5 7 9 12 15 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7
Harmony

Chords in A♭ Neapolitan major

Stack every other note of the scale from each degree and you get its chords. Open any of them in the chord library.

DegreeChordNotes
iA♭m(maj7)A♭ C♭ E♭ G
♭II+B𝄫maj7♯5B𝄫 D♭ F A♭
♭III+C♭7♯5C♭ E♭ G B𝄫
IVD♭7D♭ F A♭ C♭
VE♭7♭5E♭ G B𝄫 D♭
vi°Fm7♭5F A♭ C♭ E♭
VII G (𝄫3 ♭5 ♭7) G B𝄫 D♭ F
Context

Where A♭ Neapolitan major fits

A minor 3rd under a major upper half, with a ♭2: rare, used for colour in classical music and modern jazz.

Move one note by a half step and you get a different scale:

Neapolitan major scale in every key

A♭ Neapolitan major scale questions

What notes are in the A♭ Neapolitan major scale?

A♭ B𝄫 C♭ D♭ E♭ F G. As degrees from the root: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7.

What is the A♭ Neapolitan major scale formula?

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7, or in steps between the notes, H W W W W W H (W is a whole step of two frets, H a half step of one fret, 1½ three frets).

How do you play the A♭ Neapolitan major scale on guitar?

This page draws every note of A♭ Neapolitan major up to the 16th fret, each named by its degree with the root as a ring. To learn it a few frets at a time, open it in the scale library and step through its five CAGED positions, from the G shape to the E shape to the D shape to the C shape to the A shape.

What chords are in the A♭ Neapolitan major scale?

A♭m(maj7) (i), B𝄫maj7♯5 (♭II+), C♭7♯5 (♭III+), D♭7 (IV), E♭7♭5 (V), Fm7♭5 (vi°), G (𝄫3 ♭5 ♭7) (VII).

When is the A♭ Neapolitan major scale used?

A minor 3rd under a major upper half, with a ♭2: rare, used for colour in classical music and modern jazz.