Dorian #4
This scale is also known by other names: Romanian Minor.
2 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 2About Dorian #4
Dorian ♯4 is 1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7 — the fourth mode of harmonic minor, also known as Romanian minor. In D it gives D E F G♯ A B C: the Dorian mode with its fourth degree raised, which places a three-semitone gap between the third and fourth degrees.
Dorian with one note moved
The efficient way to hear this scale is as a change to one you already know. Dorian is 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7 — a minor mode with a bright sixth, the sound of a great deal of rock and jazz. Raise the fourth by a semitone and you have this scale.
That single alteration relocates harmonic minor's augmented second to a new position: between the ♭3 and the ♯4. The result keeps Dorian's characteristic major sixth, which is why the scale still sounds relatively bright, while adding a gap that Dorian does not have.
The name Romanian minor points at where the sound is heard: Eastern European folk traditions use this interval set, and the scale reached broader circulation through that music rather than through classical theory.
The chord it belongs over
Built on the fourth degree of a minor key, the scale supplies the notes for a minor seventh chord with a raised eleventh — Dm7♯11 in the key of A minor. That is its formal home, and it is a chord that appears more often in composed music than in standard progressions.
In improvisation the more common use is over a static minor vamp where the player wants an unexpected note. The ♯4 against a minor chord is a strong colour: it is the tritone above the root, and it neither belongs to the chord nor clashes with it outright.
Because the scale keeps a natural sixth and a flat seventh, it stays inside minor-sounding territory. Substituting it for plain Dorian changes one note and does not require the harmony to change with it.
Rarely searched, and why that is fine
Search demand for this scale is minimal in every language measured — a few dozen queries a month at most, and mostly from people working systematically through the modes of harmonic minor. It is not a scale that arrives through music and sends people looking for its name.
That is a normal state for an inner mode. Of the seven scales harmonic minor generates, two carry real use — the parent itself and Phrygian dominant — and the rest are catalogued because rotation produces them. Presenting them as hidden gems would be dishonest.
What the page can honestly offer is the interval set, the parent relationship, and the one chord the scale fits. A guitarist wanting the sound plays harmonic minor from its fourth degree; no separate fingering is needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Dorian ♯4 scale?
The fourth mode of harmonic minor, spelled 1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7, also called Romanian minor. In D that is D E F G♯ A B C — the Dorian mode with a raised fourth, which puts a three-semitone gap between the third and fourth degrees.
What chord does it fit?
A minor seventh chord with a raised eleventh — Dm7♯11 — built on the fourth degree of a minor key. In improvisation it is also used over a plain minor vamp when a player wants the tritone above the root as a colour.
Why is it called Romanian minor?
Because the interval set is characteristic of Eastern European folk music, and the scale reached wider circulation through that repertoire rather than through classical theory. The name describes an association, not an origin claim.
Related Scales from Harmonic Minor
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