The harmonic major scale is an interesting way to spice up the major scale. It is enharmonically related to the harmonic minor scale, which gives it a similar mood.

You can think of it as a major scale with a minor sixth. A more technical name would be Ionian ♭6, or Ionian ♭13.

Here’s the formula:

1    2   3     4    5   b6    7    1
T   2M   3M    4    5   6m   7M    T
  W    H    W    W    H    A    H

So for example, using C as the root we’d get:

C - D - E - F - G - Ab - B

Harmonic Major Guitar Scale Shape

Harmonic Major Chords

Here’s a chart with some of the more common chords available using harmonic major:

Sample Chord Progression

A really simple and cool chord progression to use with harmonic major is as follows:

I - iv

In C, we would have:

C - Fm

This progression is especially effective with harmonic major because we are so used to hearing I-IV in standard major tonalities.  However, because harmonic minor has a flattened 6th, the iv now becomes minor (the 3rd in the iv is the same as the 6th of the scale).  This essentially helps to capture the defining note of harmonic major in a dramatic way.

An Example

Here’s a practical example of what the harmonic major scale sounds like. The first 27 seconds of this piece is in C Harmonic Major. In case you’re interested, the rest of the piece moves through A Natural minor, A Harmonic minor, C Lydian mode, and C Major.

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