C# Neapolitan Major Scale

What is the C# Neapolitan Major Scale?

The Neapolitan major scale is a major scale with a lowered 2nd degree (♭2), creating a lush but unsettling sound that's been used in classical composition since the Baroque era. The contrast between the bright major tonality and the dark ♭2 makes it one of the most unusual major-type scales available. Here's how the C# Neapolitan Major Scale lays out on the fretboard. This scale is enharmonically equivalent to Db Neapolitan Major.

Notes and Positions

Minor scale with a lowered 2nd and natural 6th and 7th; tense, dramatic, and brighter than Neapolitan minor. On guitar, you can treat this as both a lead vocabulary and a way to see chord tones inside common shapes. Start with one box, then connect it to the nearest root on the next string set. In the key of C#, the notes are: C#, D, E, F#, G#, A#, B#.

How to Use It

You'll often hear it in Classical, Film Scores, and Modern Jazz. A good way to internalize the sound is to sing the root, then sing a few scale degrees before you play them.

Practice in small fragments (3-4 notes) and connect them across adjacent positions. Use the interactive fretboard above to spot repeats of the same note on different strings and frets.