Guitar scale · harmonic & melodic
Eb Neapolitan Minor Scale
Natural minor with a lowered 2nd and a raised 7th: a Phrygian scale with a leading tone.
Tap any note to hear it.
Eb Neapolitan Minor Scale tab: all 5 positions
Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.
e|-------------------------------------------11-12-14-| B|-------------------------------------12-15----------| G|----------------------------11-13-15----------------| D|-------------------12-13-14-------------------------| A|----------11-13-14----------------------------------| E|-11-12-14-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------14-16-| B|----------------------------------15-16-17-------| G|-------------------------13-15-16----------------| D|----------------13-14-16-------------------------| A|-------13-14-17----------------------------------| E|-14-16-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------16-18-19-| B|----------------------------------16-17-19----------| G|-------------------------15-16-19-------------------| D|-------------------16-18----------------------------| A|----------17-18-19----------------------------------| E|-16-18-19-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------18-19-22-| B|-------------------------------------19-21----------| G|----------------------------19-20-21----------------| D|-------------------18-20-21-------------------------| A|----------18-19-21----------------------------------| E|-18-19-22-------------------------------------------|
e|----------------------22-| B|-------------------21----| G|-------------20-21-------| D|-------20-21-------------| A|----21-------------------| E|-22----------------------|
How to play Eb Neapolitan Minor on guitar
Find the root first: Eb is at fret 11 on the low E string and fret 6 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every Eb on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (♭3, 5, 7), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 11–15. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | Eb |
| ♭2 | Fb |
| ♭3 | Gb |
| 4 | Ab |
| 5 | Bb |
| ♭6 | Cb |
| 7 | D |
Chords in Eb Neapolitan Minor
Stack every other note of the scale and you get these seven chords. They are the chords that sound "at home" in Eb Neapolitan Minor; tap one to see its shapes.
| Degree | Chord | 7th chord | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Ebm | Ebm(maj7) | Tonic |
| ♭II | Fb | Fbmaj7 | Supertonic |
| ♭III+ | Gbaug | — | Mediant |
| iv | Abm | Abm7 | Subdominant |
| V | — | — | Dominant |
| ♭VI | Cb | Cbmaj7 | Submediant |
| VII | — | — | Leading tone / subtonic |
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Practise Eb Neapolitan Minor anywhere, even offline.
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Questions
- What notes are in the Eb Neapolitan Minor Scale?
- The Eb Neapolitan Minor Scale has 7 notes: Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, D.
- What chords are in the Eb Neapolitan Minor Scale?
- The chords of Eb Neapolitan Minor are Ebm (i), Fb (♭II), Gbaug (♭III+), Abm (iv), Cb (♭VI).
- What is the formula of the neapolitan minor scale?
- 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7, which is the step pattern H W W W H W+H H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play Eb Neapolitan Minor on the guitar?
- The root Eb is at fret 11 on the low E string and fret 6 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 11–15, and four more positions connect it up the neck.