Hungarian minor scale

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Hungarian Minor scale on C.[1] Audio file "Hungarian minor scale on C.mid" not found

The Hungarian Minor scale,[2][3][4][5][6] Double Harmonic minor scale,[7] or Gypsy minor scale,[4][8] is a type of combined musical scale. It is the fourth mode of the double harmonic scale. It is the same as the harmonic minor scale, except that it has a raised fourth scale degree.[2][3][4][6][7][8] Its tonal center is slightly ambiguous, due to the large number of half steps. Also known as Double Harmonic Minor, or Harmonic Minor ♯4, it figures prominently in Eastern European music, particularly in Romani music.[citation needed] Melodies based on this scale have an exotic, romantic flavor for listeners accustomed to more typical Western scales.

A clear way to see this is the Hungarian Minor scale in the key of A. The notes in this scale would be A B C D♯ E F G♯. In this example the D♯ is the raised 4th and the G♯ is the raised 7th. As a second, more complex example, a Hungarian minor scale in the key of C would proceed as follows: C D E♭ F♯ G A♭ B.

Its step pattern is w - h - + - h - h - + - h, where w indicates a whole step, h indicates a half step, and + indicates an augmented second, which is played as a minor third on a keyboard but is notionally distinct. It may be seen that the scale contains two augmented seconds,[5] one in each tetrachord.[1] Intriguingly, this scale (and its modes like the double harmonic scale) is the only irreducibly periodic seven-note subset of the equally tempered chromatic scale that is perfectly balanced; this means that when its pitches are represented as points in a circle (whose full circumference represents an octave), their average position (or "centre of mass") is the centre of the circle.[9]

The scale may be used with minor or m+7 chords.[2][6] See: chord-scale system. Chords that may be derived from the A Hungarian Minor scale are Am, B7♭5, C+, E, F7 and G♯m6.
Chords that may be derived from the C Hungarian Minor scale are Cm, D7♭5, E♭+, G, A♭7 and Bm6.[7]

This scale is obtainable from the Arabic scale by starting from the fourth of that scale. Said another way, the C Hungarian minor scale is equivalent to the G Arabic scale.[7]

In Indian classical Carnatic music, it is known as the ragam Simhendramadhyamam.

Notable recordings

The Pink Panther Theme, originally played in the key of E minor, is noted for its quirky, unusual use of chromaticism which is derived from the scale.[10]

Joe Satriani has composed several songs using the Hungarian minor scale ("Musterion"[11]), and film composer Danny Elfman has frequently used it in his soundtrack work[citation needed]. Oli Herbert of the American Melodic Metalcore band All That Remains uses the Hungarian minor scale in his playing ("Become the Catalyst"[12]).

In Enix's video game Illusion of Gaia, the flute melody found in the Inca Ruins uses the C Hungarian minor scale (a ♯4 is used in the second phrase); this music is also quoted in the music of the Larai Cliff stage, transposed to D[citation needed].

See also

Notes

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References

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Recommended reading

External links


  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kahan, Sylvia (2009). In Search of New Scales, p.39. ISBN 978-1-58046-305-8. Cites Liszt. Des Bohémians, p.301.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Christiansen, Mike (2000). Guitar Scale Dictionary, p.14. ISBN 978-0-7866-5222-8.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stetina, Troy (2007). Fretboard Mastery, p.126. ISBN 978-0-7935-9789-5.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kent Cleland, Mary Dobrea-Grindahl (2010). Developing Musicianship Through Aural Skills, p.495. ISBN 978-0-415-80244-4
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Carlos Agon, Emmanuel Amiot, Moreno Andreatta, Gérard Assayag, Jean Bresson, John Manderau; eds. (2011). Mathematics and Computation in Music, p.89. ISBN 978-3-642-21589-6. "'gypsy'[sic] (or 'Hungarian minor') scale."
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Christiansen, Mike (2003). Complete Guitar Scale Dictionary, p.16. ISBN 978-0-7866-6994-3.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Podolsky, Joshua Craig (2010). Advanced Lead Guitar Concepts, p.111. ISBN 978-0-7866-8236-2. Also "Gypsy scale".
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hanson, Paul and Stang, Aaron (1996). Shred Guitar, p.114. ISBN 978-1-57623-604-8.
  9. ↑ Milne, A.J., Bulger, D., Herff, S.A. Sethares, W.A. "Perfect balance: A novel principle for the construction of musical scales and meters", Mathematics and Computation in Music (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 9110, pp. 97–108) Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-20602-8
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ "Hungarian Minor", NextLevelGuitar.com.
  12. ↑ "Dissecting Oli Herbert's "Become The Catalyst" - Guitar Lesson", RockHouseMethod.BlogSpot.com.


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