Hungarian minor (Gypsy) scale in A on electric guitar
Hungarian minor (Gypsy) scale in A: A, B, C, D#, E, F and G#, the degrees 1–2–b3–#4–5–b6–7. The box shown is in open position, from the open strings up to fret 4; the lowest tonic sits on the 5th string, open, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On electric guitar, the slimmer neck invites legato — the same fingering runs with less effort, and the high positions stay comfortable. Plugged into an amp, each chord sustains for as long as you hold it, and the tone — clean or driven — shapes the whole sound.
Once the shape is memorized, play the box in thirds: the real memory test.
Text description
Open strings and frets 1 to 4, 6 strings. Root (A): string 5 open and string 3, fret 2.
- String 6 (E): open, E, fifth; fret 1, F, flat sixth, finger 1; fret 4, G sharp, seventh, finger 4
- String 5 (A): open, A, root; fret 2, B, second, finger 2; fret 3, C, flat third, finger 3
- String 4 (D): fret 1, D sharp, sharp fourth, finger 1; fret 2, E, fifth, finger 2; fret 3, F, flat sixth, finger 3
- String 3 (G): fret 1, G sharp, seventh, finger 1; fret 2, A, root, finger 2; fret 4, B, second, finger 4
- String 2 (B): open, B, second; fret 1, C, flat third, finger 1; fret 4, D sharp, sharp fourth, finger 4
- String 1 (E): open, E, fifth; fret 1, F, flat sixth, finger 1; fret 4, G sharp, seventh, finger 4
In the diagram, each dot carries its scale degree; 1 is the tonic, highlighted.
See the full explanation of the Hungarian minor (Gypsy) scale →