Theharmonic major scale is majorscale with a lowered sixth. Lowering the sixth makes it leading by a semitone to the fifth and makes the upper tetrachord of the scale the same as in theharmonic minor scale.

Harmonic major scales are commonly used injazz and have corollaries in Indianragas.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov considered four scales to be the "basis of harmony": the natural minor and major, and the harmonic minor and major. The harmonic major scale is amajor scale with the a loweredsixth degree. American musicologistRichard Taruskin polled his colleagues about the scale and found most of them had never heard of it. At least one of Rimsky-Korsakov's peers thought he invented the scale.Anatoly Lyadov helped Rimsky-Korsakov formulate his harmonic pedagogy, and Lyadov's method was derived from his teacher Yuliy Ivanovich Iogansen.^{[1]: 222–6}

The scale is commonly found inClaude Debussy's music.^[2]Toru Takemitsu used the harmonic major scale in compositions likeCoral Island andRain Tree Sketch II. The latter was dedicated toOlivier Messiaen, whose analysis of scales was a major influence. Takemitsu's concept of the scale might have been derived fromGeorge Russell'sideas about scales where the harmonic major scale was configured as a "Lydian diminished scale".^[3]

In Hindustani andCarnatic music, the harmonic major scale respectively corresponds to the RaagNat Bhairav and RagaSarasangi.^[4]

The scale is simply amajor scale with a lowered sixth.^[5] It is also theharmonic minor scale with a raised third. The chief value of thissynthetic scale are the voice leading possibilities it generates. Jazz soloists often rely on its various modes.^[6]

The lowered sixth provides entry to progressions that are not governed by thecircle of fifths.^[1]: 231ff Composers can use it to create more symmetrical harmonies.^[2] In addition to the scale's minorsubdominant chord, the triad built on the sixth scale degree is anaugmented chord.^[7]: 7

• Coulombe, Adam. "Harmonic Major: Part I — Arranging Blackbird".Canadian Musician Magazine. No. July/August 2015. p. 27.
• Haerle, Dan (September 1, 1982).The Jazz Language: A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation. Alfred Music.ISBN 978-0760400142.
• Hewitt, Michael (2013).Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree.ISBN 978-0957547001.
• Riley, Matthew. "The 'Harmonic Major' Mode in Nineteenth-Century Theory and Practice."Music Analysis, 2004.
• Slonimsky, Nicolas (1947).Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns (First ed.). Music Sales America. p. 152, 159.ISBN 978-0-8256-1449-1.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Willmott, Bret (1994).Mel Bay's Complete Book of Harmony Theory and Voicing. Mel Bay Publications.ISBN 1-56222-994-X.
• Yamaguchi, Masaya (2006).The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales (Revised ed.). New York: Masaya Music Service.ISBN 0-9676353-0-6.

• The Tonal Center page
• "Harmonic Major Scale, Modes, Chords and Arpeggios Music Theory Video" viaYouTube

• Heptatonic scales
• Hemitonic scales
• Tritonic scales
• Musical scales with augmented seconds

• Pages using the Phonos extension
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• Short description matches Wikidata