Chord & FretHarmonic major (C)
Take the major scale and lower the 6th note a half step: that single change makes the harmonic major. The lowered note opens a step-and-a-half leap between the 6th and 7th — that big, 'exotic' stride — and turns the chord on the 4th degree minor: an Fm inside a C-major world. In practice, this is the sound of modal borrowing — in other words, a happy major key suddenly shaded by a chord on loan from the parallel minor. You'll hear it in film scores, concert music and modern jazz as seasoning over a major key.
Example: C – D – E – F – G – Ab – BFormula: 1 – 2 – 3 – 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 →
Cmaj7Dm7b5Em7Fm(maj7)G7Abmaj7#5B°7The 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 harmonic major. In Chord & Fret, you press play and watch each note light up on the diagram the instant it sounds; switch the dot labels between degrees, note names and fingers; and choose to start from the tonic or play the full box. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. 100% offline. Open in Chord & Fret →