Hungarian Minor Scale

Hungarian minor is a harmonic minor scale with a raised fourth degree. Adding the augmented fourth to harmonic minor creates a scale with two augmented seconds — giving it an even more dramatic sound than regular harmonic minor. It's associated with Eastern European folk music, gypsy jazz, and Romani musical traditions. Franz Liszt used it extensively in his Hungarian Rhapsodies. Django Reinhardt's playing draws from the same tradition.

Construction

A harmonic minor:  A B C D  E F G# A
A Hungarian minor: A B C D# E F G# A
                         ↑ raised 4th

Formula: 1  2  ♭3  #4  5  ♭6  7

Step pattern: W - H - A2 - H - H - A2 - H

The two augmented seconds are: between ♭3 and #4 (C and D# in A Hungarian minor) and between ♭6 and 7 (F and G# in A Hungarian minor). This double-wide leap pattern is the gypsy/Eastern European sound.

Key Scales

A Hungarian minor: A B C D# E F G# A
D Hungarian minor: D E F G# A B♭ C# D
G Hungarian minor: G A B♭ C# D E♭ F# G
E Hungarian minor: E F# G A# B C D# E

Relation to Other Scales

Hungarian minor vs. Harmonic minor:
Harmonic minor: 1 2 ♭3  4  5 ♭6 7   (one A2)
Hungarian minor: 1 2 ♭3 #4  5 ♭6 7   (two A2, raised 4th)

Hungarian minor vs. Double harmonic:
Double harmonic: 1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 7    (♭2 instead of natural 2)
Hungarian minor: 1  2 ♭3 #4 5 ♭6 7  (♭3 instead of major 3rd)

Sound and Use

Darker and more intense than harmonic minor — the raised fourth adds an extra tension point. The sound is quintessentially gypsy: highly ornamented, vocal, dramatic. In gypsy jazz, the scale appears naturally because the tradition evolved from Romani musical practices where this scale is native. Playing over a Dm chord (or any minor chord) with D# as a passing or characteristic tone, resolving back to E or landing on D, creates the gypsy sound immediately.

For a modern jazz application: Hungarian minor over a Im chord where you want the most exotic possible minor colour. The scale provides both the raised 4th (#11) and the raised 7th (major 7th) — a CmM7#11 chord uses exactly these notes. Rare but distinctive.