A# Hungarian Minor Guitar Scale
Guitar scale in Double Drop D tuning — fretboard diagram
A# Hungarian Minor in Double Drop D — Notes and Intervals
The A# Hungarian Minor scale, also known as the Gypsy Minor, is famous for its two wide melodic gaps. On Guitar, its notes are A#, C, C#, E, F, F#, A. It sounds powerful, mysterious, and perfectly balanced, frequently appearing in classical masterworks and modern melodic metal. Commonly used in Classical, Metal, Klezmer, Film Scores, Gypsy Jazz. Notable players include Franz Liszt, Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedman, Django Reinhardt. Use over m chords in gypsy jazz and neoclassical metal. Works beautifully over i-V progressions in minor keys.
Notes: A#, C, C#, E, F, F#, A
Intervals: 1P, 2M, 3m, 4A, 5P, 6m, 7M
Degrees: 1 2 b3 #4 5 b6 7
Formula: W-H-WH-H-H-WH-H
Number of notes: 7
Tuning: Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)
About Double Drop D Tuning
Double Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) lowers both the 6th and 1st strings from E to D, creating a symmetrical frame of D notes around the standard middle four strings. This gives a distinctly resonant, jangly character that has been beloved in folk-rock and acoustic music since the late 1960s.
Neil Young used Double Drop D extensively — 'Cinnamon Girl' features its distinctive droning riff, and 'The Needle and the Damage Done' showcases its intimate fingerpicking potential. Jimmy Page used it on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'. Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' also employs this tuning. Because only two strings change (both by just one whole step), Double Drop D is one of the easiest alternate tunings to learn — most standard chord shapes on the inner four strings remain unchanged.
Notable artists: Neil Young, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Best for: Folk-rock songwriting, D-centric acoustic arrangements, droning fingerpicking patterns, and any song that benefits from rich D-string resonance on both outer strings
Musical Character
Contains TWO augmented 2nd intervals (b3-#4 and b6-7), giving it an unmistakable double-exotic quality. These 'leaps' are what make it sound simultaneously Eastern European and Middle Eastern.
Explore This Scale in Other Tunings
- A# Hungarian Minor in Standard Tuning
- A# Hungarian Minor in Drop D
- A# Hungarian Minor in DADGAD
- A# Hungarian Minor in Open G
- A# Hungarian Minor in Baritone (B Standard)
- A# Hungarian Minor in 7-string
- A# Hungarian Minor in 8-string
- A# Hungarian Minor in Drop C
- A# Hungarian Minor in Drop B
- A# Hungarian Minor in Open D
- A# Hungarian Minor in Half Step Down
- A# Hungarian Minor in Open E
- A# Hungarian Minor in Open A
- A# Hungarian Minor in Open C