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B♭ neapolitan major pentatonic Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, Ab, Bb, D, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12

A string: Bb, D, Eb, Fb, Ab at frets 1, 5, 6, 7, 11

D string: D, Eb, Fb, Ab, Bb, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 6, 8, 12

G string: Ab, Bb, D, Eb, Fb at frets 1, 3, 7, 8, 9

B string: D, Eb, Fb, Ab, Bb at frets 3, 4, 5, 9, 11

High E string: Fb, Ab, Bb, D, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12

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Bb neapolitan major pentatonic

The neapolitan major pentatonic is a five note extraction with root, major 3rd, 4th, flat 5th and flat 7th. The clash between the bright 3rd and the flat 5th gives it a wayward, unresolved character closer to a jazz altered sound than to a folk pentatonic. Use it as an angular color over dominant chords rather than as a home scale.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

B♭

I

D

III

E♭

IV

F♭

bV

A♭

bVII

neapolitan major pentatonic in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • An off-kilter pentatonic: major 3rd (D) beside a flat 5th (E); rock those two against each other as the hook.
  • Over a 7b5 chord on Bb, all five notes land; it is that chord's color in scale form.
  • Use the 4th (Eb) as the connective tone between the bright III and the dark b5 (E); it softens the leap.
  • Treat it as an effect scale: one phrase inside an otherwise plain solo reads as deliberate strangeness.

How to play B♭ neapolitan major pentatonic on guitar

Both E strings spell Fb in this key and the open D gives the major third, so three strings ring without help from the fretting hand. Fretted root waits at fret 1 of the A string, which means the A-shape barre is available almost open. Capo fret 1 and the whole grid matches A neapolitan major pentatonic. Four flats. Boxes off the fret 6 root on the low E finish at fret 10, so plan the shift there.

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