F# Gypsy Major — 5-String Banjo

F# Gypsy Major is 7 notes to the octave (world family), drawn here across the 5-String Banjo's gDGBD strings with every F# marked, so home stays visible from anywhere in the pattern.

Brash and colorful — a #2 crushed against the major 3rd and a #4 give it a Lydian-dominant swagger with a Romani twist. Bold, spicy, and unpredictable.

Heard in: Hungarian and Romani folk, Bartok and Liszt, gypsy-jazz flourishes, and fusion lines over dominant chords.

A scale here always has to negotiate with the short g: it is one fixed pitch that belongs to some keys and argues with others, so these maps mark where it falls inside the pattern instead of hiding it.

Learn it as melody first and picking pattern second: get the notes under the left hand, then work out which right-hand fingers reach them without breaking the pulse. That second question is the one that takes the time.