music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, the major Neapolitan scale and the minor Neapolitan scale are two

musical scale In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by decreasing pitch is a descending scale. Often, especially in the ...

s. Both scales are minor, in that they both contain the note a

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...

above the root. The major and minor Neapolitan scales are instead differentiated by the quality of their sixth. The sequence of scale steps for the Neapolitan minor is as follows:Celentano, Dave (1991). ''Monster Scales and Modes'', p.44. Published by CentreStream. .Burrows, Terry (1999). ''How to Read Music: Reading Music Made Simple'', p.90. .Roth, Dana (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Scales and Modes for Electric Bass'', p.9. .Blatter, Alfred (2012). ''Revisiting Music Theory: A Guide to the Practice'', p.87 & 89. . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A B C D E F G A
, W, W, W, H, WH, H
C D E F G A B C And for the Neapolitan major: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A B C D E F G A
, W, W, W, W, W, H
C D E F G A B C The scales are distinguished from the harmonic and ascending

melodic minor scale In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which als ...

s by the lowered

supertonic In music, the supertonic is the second degree () of a diatonic scale, one whole step above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the supertonic note is sung as ''re''. The triad built on the supertonic note is called the supertonic ch ...

or second scale degree. This could also be known as the "Phrygian harmonic minor" or "Phrygian melodic minor." The scale therefore shares with the Phrygian mode the property of having a

minor second A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

above the tonic. Both are accompanied well by

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

or minor chords. The 4th mode of the Neapolitan major, also known as the Lydian Minor scale, is an excellent choice for the 911/13 (no 5) chord. Said mode contains all the alterations plus the 5. A whole tone scale is often used but that mode tends to be minus the 5 that the Lydian Minor contains. The 5th mode of the Neapolitan major is also known as the

major Locrian scale In music, the major Locrian scale, also called the ''Locrian major scale'', is the scale obtained by sharpening the second and third notes of the diatonic Locrian mode. With a tonic of C, it consists of the notes C D E F G A B. It can be described ...

Modes

The scale contains the following modes: ' '' : : Notes : :** While this triad consisted of 1, 4 (~3), and 5 notes, this is not really a normal triad since no use of 3rd-grade notes (in B : D or D/E). Instead, this triad more likely shaped as sus4 triad (although 4 is enharmonic to 3). :*** 7 enharmonic to 6, so the 6th chords is available instead of 7th (thus being used here). :**** These chords can actually be respelled as 7alt (the 75 is one of the altered dominant chords).

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{{scales Heptatonic scales Musical scales Tritonic scales Hemitonic scales

Modes

See also

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Further reading

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