B♭ neapolitan minor contains B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A. Box 2 places the ♭2 on the fourth string for an easy reach.
B♭ neapolitan minor contains B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A. Box 2 places the ♭2 on the fourth string for an easy reach.
B♭ neapolitan minor is B♭ harmonic minor with the second degree lowered a half step to C♭. The interval sequence is H, W, W, W, H, 1½, H. The ♭2 creates a semitone above the tonic. See B♭ harmonic minor for the unaltered form.
Use it over B♭ minor riffs that feature a ♭II chord like B major. It suits progressive metal and film-score tension. The ♭2 works well in chromatic passing lines.
Practise Box 2 first: the root is on string 6, fret 6, and the ♭2 is one fret higher. It covers frets 6–9 and leads naturally to Box 3.
B♭ neapolitan minor in box 1 runs from fret 0 to fret 4, 17 notes across 6 strings, from F on the low E string at fret 1 up to G♭ on the high e string at fret 2. The root falls on the A string at fret 1 and the G string at fret 3.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 1, 2 | F, G♭ |
| 5 (A) | 0, 1, 2, 4 | A, B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 4 (D) | 1, 3, 4 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 3 (G) | 2, 3, 4 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 2 (B) | 0, 2, 4 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
| 1 (e) | 1, 2 | F, G♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor in box 2 runs from fret 6 to fret 9, 16 notes across 6 strings, from B♭ on the low E string at fret 6 up to D♭ on the high e string at fret 9. The root falls on the low E string at fret 6, the D string at fret 8 and the high e string at fret 6.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 6, 7, 9 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 5 (A) | 6, 8, 9 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 4 (D) | 7, 8, 9 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 3 (G) | 6, 8 | D♭, E♭ |
| 2 (B) | 6, 7 | F, G♭ |
| 1 (e) | 6, 7, 9 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor in box 3 runs from fret 9 to fret 12, 13 notes across 6 strings, from D♭ on the low E string at fret 9 up to E♭ on the high e string at fret 11. The root falls on the B string at fret 11.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 9, 11 | D♭, E♭ |
| 5 (A) | 9, 12 | G♭, A |
| 4 (D) | 9, 11 | C♭, D♭ |
| 3 (G) | 10, 11 | F, G♭ |
| 2 (B) | 10, 11, 12 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 1 (e) | 9, 11 | D♭, E♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor in box 4 runs from fret 11 to fret 14, 16 notes across 6 strings, from E♭ on the low E string at fret 11 up to G♭ on the high e string at fret 14. The root falls on the A string at fret 13 and the B string at fret 11.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 11, 13, 14 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 5 (A) | 12, 13, 14 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 4 (D) | 11, 13 | D♭, E♭ |
| 3 (G) | 11, 14 | G♭, A |
| 2 (B) | 11, 12, 14 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 1 (e) | 11, 13, 14 | E♭, F, G♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 1 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the 5 and runs from fret 1 to fret 6, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the A string at fret 1, the G string at fret 3 and the high e string at fret 6.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 1, 2, 5 | F, G♭, A |
| 5 (A) | 1, 2, 4 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 4 (D) | 1, 3, 4 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 3 (G) | 2, 3, 4 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 2 (B) | 2, 4, 6 | D♭, E♭, F |
| 1 (e) | 2, 5, 6 | G♭, A, B♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 2 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the ♭6 and runs from fret 2 to fret 7, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the low E string at fret 6, the G string at fret 3 and the high e string at fret 6.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 2, 5, 6 | G♭, A, B♭ |
| 5 (A) | 2, 4, 6 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
| 4 (D) | 3, 4, 7 | F, G♭, A |
| 3 (G) | 3, 4, 6 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 2 (B) | 4, 6, 7 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 1 (e) | 5, 6, 7 | A, B♭, C♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 3 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the 7 and runs from fret 4 to fret 10, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the low E string at fret 6, the D string at fret 8 and the high e string at fret 6.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 5, 6, 7 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 5 (A) | 4, 6, 8 | D♭, E♭, F |
| 4 (D) | 4, 7, 8 | G♭, A, B♭ |
| 3 (G) | 4, 6, 8 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
| 2 (B) | 6, 7, 10 | F, G♭, A |
| 1 (e) | 6, 7, 9 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 4 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the root and runs from fret 6 to fret 11, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the low E string at fret 6, the D string at fret 8 and the B string at fret 11.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 6, 7, 9 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 5 (A) | 6, 8, 9 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 4 (D) | 7, 8, 9 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 3 (G) | 6, 8, 10 | D♭, E♭, F |
| 2 (B) | 7, 10, 11 | G♭, A, B♭ |
| 1 (e) | 7, 9, 11 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 5 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the ♭2 and runs from fret 7 to fret 13, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the D string at fret 8 and the B string at fret 11.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 7, 9, 11 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
| 5 (A) | 8, 9, 12 | F, G♭, A |
| 4 (D) | 8, 9, 11 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 3 (G) | 8, 10, 11 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 2 (B) | 10, 11, 12 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 1 (e) | 9, 11, 13 | D♭, E♭, F |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 6 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the ♭3 and runs from fret 9 to fret 14, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the A string at fret 13 and the B string at fret 11.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 9, 11, 13 | D♭, E♭, F |
| 5 (A) | 9, 12, 13 | G♭, A, B♭ |
| 4 (D) | 9, 11, 13 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
| 3 (G) | 10, 11, 14 | F, G♭, A |
| 2 (B) | 11, 12, 14 | B♭, C♭, D♭ |
| 1 (e) | 11, 13, 14 | E♭, F, G♭ |
B♭ neapolitan minor, position 7 of the three-notes-per-string shapes, starts on the 4 and runs from fret 11 to fret 17, three notes on each of 6 strings. The root falls on the A string at fret 13 and the G string at fret 15.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | 11, 13, 14 | E♭, F, G♭ |
| 5 (A) | 12, 13, 14 | A, B♭, C♭ |
| 4 (D) | 11, 13, 15 | D♭, E♭, F |
| 3 (G) | 11, 14, 15 | G♭, A, B♭ |
| 2 (B) | 12, 14, 16 | C♭, D♭, E♭ |
| 1 (e) | 13, 14, 17 | F, G♭, A |
Every chord here uses only notes from the scale. Tap one to open it.
B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A. The scale has a half step between B♭ and C♭. The 1½ step occurs between G♭ and A. It is also spelled A♯ in enharmonic notation for the same sounding root.
The tonic chord is B♭ minor. The ♭II chord is B major. The v chord is F 7th flat 5. These chords outline the scale's unique intervals.
B♭ harmonic minor has C natural, while neapolitan minor has C♭. This lowers the second degree by a half step. The rest of the scale is unchanged.