Harmonic Major scale on guitar

Harmonic major is the major scale with a flat sixth, which turns the fourth chord minor for a bittersweet sound.

Notes in A	A B C# D E F G#
Formula	1 2 3 4 5 b6 7
Steps	W W H W H W+H H (W whole step, H half step)
Note count	7
Style in the app	Major, scale "Harmonic"

A Harmonic Major scale on the first 15 frets in standard tuning, thin e string on top. Highlighted circles mark the root, A.

Play the A Harmonic Major scale on the fretboard in Guitar Upscale

About the Harmonic Major scale

Harmonic major lowers the 6th of the major scale. The 4th chord becomes minor, so C to Fm to C gives the bittersweet move heard in many film scores and Beatles songs.

Like harmonic minor, it has a gap of three half steps, between the flat 6th and the 7th.

Use it when a song in major borrows the minor iv chord. The flat 6th is the note to aim for.

Intervals from the root

Degree	Interval	Semitones	In A
1	Root	0	A
2	Major 2nd	2	B
3	Major 3rd	4	C#
4	Perfect 4th	5	D
5	Perfect 5th	7	E
b6	Minor 6th	8	F
7	Major 7th	11	G#

Chords in the A Harmonic Major scale

Stack every other note of the scale and you get one chord on each note. These chords sound at home with the scale, so they make good progressions.

Degree	Triad	Seventh chord
I	A	Amaj7
ii°	Bdim	Bm7b5
iii	C#m	C#m7
iv	Dm	DmMaj7
V	E	E7
bVI+	Faug	Fmaj7#5
vii°	G#dim	G#dim7

Same notes, another starting note

Start the A Harmonic Major scale on another of its notes and you get these scales:

From degree 4 (D): D Lydian Diminished scale

Harmonic Major scale in every key

Key	Notes	Play it
C	C D E F G Ab B	Open
Db	Db Eb F Gb Ab A C	Open
D	D E F# G A Bb C#	Open
Eb	Eb F G Ab Bb Cb D	Open
E	E F# G# A B C D#	Open
F	F G A Bb C Db E	Open
F#	F# G# A# B C# D E#	Open
G	G A B C D Eb F#	Open
Ab	Ab Bb C Db Eb Fb G	Open
A	A B C# D E F G#	Open
Bb	Bb C D Eb F Gb A	Open
B	B C# D# E F# G A#	Open