STRINGSCALES

D♭ neapolitan major Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db, Ebb, Fb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12

A string: Bb, C, Db, Ebb, Fb, Gb, Ab at frets 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11

D string: Ebb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db, Ebb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12

G string: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Ebb, Fb, Gb at frets 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11

B string: C, Db, Ebb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb at frets 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

High E string: Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db, Ebb, Fb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12

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Db neapolitan major

The neapolitan major scale is a melodic minor scale with a flat 2nd: only the opening half step is dark, and everything from the 4th up is pure major brightness. That lopsided design gives melodies a shadowed start and a radiant finish. It generates its own mode family, including the leading whole tone and major locrian scales.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

D♭

i

D♭m
E𝄫

bII+

E𝄫aug
F♭

bIII+

F♭aug
G♭

IV

G♭maj
A♭

V

A♭majb5
B♭

vi°

B♭dim
C

VII

E𝄫7no5/C

Same notes, different mode

Db neapolitan major uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

D leading whole toneFb lydian augmented dominantGb lydian dominant b6Ab major locrianBb half-diminished b4C altered dominant double b3

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

tip
  • Dark start, bright finish: open phrases with the b2 (D) against the root, then climb into the pure-major top half (VI and VII).
  • Use it over a major chord approached from its Neapolitan (the bII (D) major triad); the scale bridges both harmonies.
  • Think melodic minor with a flat 2nd: your Db melodic minor fingering needs only one altered note.
  • Write a two-bar phrase where bar one uses only root, b2 (D), b3 (E) and bar two only IV, V, VI, VII; the scale's split personality becomes the hook.

How to play D♭ neapolitan major on guitar

Six flats read hard, but a capo at fret 1 makes it C fingerings, so the page stops fighting you. Both E strings spell Fb inside the key and the open D string gives Ebb, which means three open strings still hold under the shape. Lowest root waits at fret 9. Position one carries through to fret 13, so one hand position covers a long stretch of neck.

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