B♭ Neapolitan majorScale

Formula

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

B♭ Neapolitan major on the chromatic circle

B♭ 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 B♭I Neapolitan major ♭2 C♭II ♭3 D♭III 4 E♭IV 5 FV 6 GVI 7 AVII B♭ Neapolitan major
The whole neck

B♭ 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 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 ♭2 4 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 5 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6
Harmony

Chords in B♭ 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
iB♭m(maj7)B♭ D♭ F A
♭II+C♭maj7♯5C♭ E♭ G B♭
♭III+D♭7♯5D♭ F A C♭
IVE♭7E♭ G B♭ D♭
VF7♭5F A C♭ E♭
vi°Gm7♭5G B♭ D♭ F
VII A (𝄫3 ♭5 ♭7) A C♭ E♭ G
Context

Where B♭ 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

B♭ Neapolitan major scale questions

What notes are in the B♭ Neapolitan major scale?

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

What is the B♭ 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 B♭ Neapolitan major scale on guitar?

This page draws every note of B♭ 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 A shape to the G shape to the E shape to the D shape to the C shape.

What chords are in the B♭ Neapolitan major scale?

B♭m(maj7) (i), C♭maj7♯5 (♭II+), D♭7♯5 (♭III+), E♭7 (IV), F7♭5 (V), Gm7♭5 (vi°), A (𝄫3 ♭5 ♭7) (VII).

When is the B♭ 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.