Chord and FretHungarian minor (Gypsy) (A)
It's the harmonic minor with the 4th raised a half step — which simply means that to the step-and-a-half leap it already had between the 6th and 7th, another one is added between the 3rd and 4th. The scale turns doubly 'exotic': tense below, dramatic above, with the feel of an intense dance. 'Hungarian' and 'Gypsy' are historical Western-catalog labels, not a faithful picture of those traditions. In practice it serves minor chords with a major 7th — the m(maj7) — and appears in concert music, film scores and regional repertoires as a bold color.
Example: A – B – C – D# – E – F – G#Formula: 1 – 2 – b3 – #4 – 5 – b6 – 7In the formula, the numbers are degrees — positions counted in the reference major scale; "b" lowers a half step and "#" raises one.
Family: Synthetic and specialized scales.
They appear in specific repertoires — concert music, film scores, modern jazz, regional traditions.
Chords in the harmonic field
These are the seven chords born from this scale — one built on each of its notes. Put another way: the set of chords that sounds naturally "inside" the scale. See the harmonic field of every key →
The same scale on all four instruments
In the diagrams, each dot carries its scale degree — 1 is the tonic, highlighted.
One box per instrument is just the doorway into Hungarian minor (Gypsy). In Chord and Fret, you press play and watch each note light up on the diagram the instant it sounds; walk the scale's positions along the whole neck; and run it up, down or in a full round trip. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. Plays offline. See it in Chord and Fret →