Neapolitan major scale in A on ukulele
Neapolitan major scale in A: A, Bb, C, D, E, F# and G#, the degrees 1–b2–b3–4–5–6–7. The box shown is in open position, from the open strings up to fret 4; the lowest tonic sits on the 4th string, fret 2, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On the ukulele, the high reentrant G reshuffles the pattern — the scale climbs and falls in compact regions. Its soft nylon strings sound warm and mellow, light enough to float gently over a song.
Climb it slowly and name each degree out loud before speeding up.
Text description
Open strings and frets 1 to 4, 4 strings. Root (A): string 4, fret 2 and string 1 open.
- String 4 (G): fret 1, G sharp, seventh, finger 1; fret 2, A, root, finger 2; fret 3, B flat, flat second, finger 3
- String 3 (C): open, C, flat third; fret 2, D, fourth, finger 2; fret 4, E, fifth, finger 4
- String 2 (E): open, E, fifth; fret 2, F sharp, sixth, finger 2; fret 4, G sharp, seventh, finger 4
- String 1 (A): open, A, root; fret 1, B flat, flat second, finger 1; fret 3, C, flat third, finger 3
Read the dots by degree: 1 is the tonic (highlighted); the rest follow the scale's formula.