Making Music With The Neapolitan Major Scale, And PLANING

Tommaso Zillio

FREE Music Theory Map

Download the FREE Map of Music Theory that will tell you what is the next topic you need to study

By entering my email address I give Tommaso Zillio permission to email me almost-daily practical and funny music theory tips for guitar. That is alright by me because I am an adult and I know how to click on an 'unsubscribe' link if I really really don't like Tommaso's emails.

Captcha code:

By submitting your info, you agree to send it to Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc. who will process and use it according to their privacy policy.

Some guitar scales are properly named. For instance, the Harmonic Minor is a minor scale (i.e. you can play it on a minor chord). Amazing :)

And some other scales are not properly named at all. For instance, the Neapolitan Major scale is not a major scale at all. It does not work on a major chord, it does not sound major at all, and to be completely frank, nobody has any idea why it's named 'Neapolitan' either...

But you know what? This is a scale that sounds great - if you know how to use it. It's not used much in pop or rock (yet) but I hear it in many movie soundtracks... and it's just a matter of time before this scale becomes the next secret weapon of songwriters.

Also the Neapolitan Major scale affords you an opportunity to use one of the coolest techniques in modern music: "planing". This is stuff you won't find in your classical theory books.

So, be ahead of the curve and learn how to make music with the Neapolitan Major before everybody else starts using it:

And this article can not be complete if I don't point you to the OTHER Neapolitan scale: the Neapolitan Minor. That's another super-fun scale (and it's actually a minor scale!)

The Neapolitan Minor sounds great when you pair it together with a Neapolitan chord... everything is explained below:

And if you like these videos on exotic scales and want to know more how to REALLY use scales and modes to make music, and how to make sense of this seemingly endless world of modes and scales, then I urge you to check out the Master of the Modes course that explains scales and modes on the guitar the way that they should be explained.

Master of the Modes is really the course I wish I had when I started out - with clear explanations from the fundamentals to the most advanced applications. Don't miss it!