B♭ harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from A♭ to A. That turns the five chord from Fm into F, and puts a note one fret below home.
It also opens a three-fret gap between G♭ and A. That gap is how most people recognise the scale, usually within a second.
- How it sounds
- Minor with an edge. It’s natural minor until the seventh, which jumps up and leans hard on home. It sounds dramatic and a little formal, and it badly wants to resolve.
- Where it lives
- Classical and baroque minor keys, neoclassical metal, flamenco, and Balkan and klezmer music.
On the neck
- High E string: F at fret 1, G♭ at fret 2
- B string: C at fret 1, D♭ at fret 2, E♭ at fret 4
- G string: A at fret 2, B♭ at fret 3
- D string: E♭ at fret 1, F at fret 3, G♭ at fret 4
- A string: B♭ at fret 1, C at fret 3, D♭ at fret 4
- Low E string: F at fret 1, G♭ at fret 2
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: B♭2C1D♭2E♭2F1G♭3A1B♭
Spelled from B♭ — the same notes with fewer accidentals.
Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. A now sits a single fret below B♭ and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from G♭ to A.
Home. Every other note is measured from it. A sits one fret below.
B♭
Perfect unison
Two frets up from B♭: whole step.
C
Major second
One fret up from C: half step.
D♭
Minor third
Two frets up from D♭: whole step.
E♭
Perfect fourth
Two frets up from E♭: whole step.
F
Perfect fifth
One fret up from F: half step.
G♭
Minor sixth
Three frets up from G♭: augmented second.
A
Major seventh
The chords
Same method: take a note, skip one, take the next. Most of the chords match natural minor. The new one is on D♭. D♭–F–A is four frets and then four more, two wide gaps in a row, and that makes an augmented chord. It’s unstable, and you’ll rarely hear it on its own.
F–A–C, four then three, turns the five chord major.
i, ii°, III+, iv, V, VI, vii°. The plus marks an augmented chord. The uppercase V is the whole point of this scale: a minor key with a major five. In B♭ harmonic minor, i–iv–V is B♭m–E♭m–F.
- High E string: F at fret 1
- B string: D♭ at fret 2
- G string: B♭ at fret 3
- D string: F at fret 3
- A string: B♭ at fret 1
- Low E string: not played
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- B♭mi
Pre-dominant
moving
- E♭miv
- Cdimii°rare
- G♭VI
Dominant
tension
- FV
- Adimvii°rare
resolves back to B♭m
F is F–A–C and Adim is A–C–E♭. They share A and C, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.
Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no A at all. One note moved and the key got a real ending.
Progressions
Classical
Classical minor keys are written this way on purpose. The raised seventh is there to make the cadence work: the five chord goes where it promised, and the key shuts like a door.
| Name | Numerals | In B♭ |
|---|---|---|
| Minor cadencecommon | V–i | F – B♭m |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | B♭m – E♭m – F – B♭m |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | Cdim – F – B♭m |
| Deceptiverare | V–VI | F – G♭ |
Jazz
Jazz plays the same move with seventh chords. The minor two-five-one closes a huge number of minor-key standards.
| Name | Numerals | In B♭ |
|---|---|---|
| Minor two-five-onecommon | iiø7–V7–i | Cm7♭5 – F7 – B♭m |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | B♭m – G♭maj7 – Cm7♭5 – F7 |
Spanish and flamenco
Here the music leans on the five chord itself. F gets treated as a place to rest, not a step toward home, which is how the scale sounds when you start it from its fifth note.
| Name | Numerals | In B♭ |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusian cadencecommon | i–VII–VI–V | B♭m – A♭ – G♭ – Fborrows A♭ from natural minor |
| Phrygian vamp | V–VI–V | F – G♭ – F |
Writing with this
Putting chords under a melody
The note that can only mean one thing.
Hold an A in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: F, Adim and D♭+. All three are unstable.
So an A in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put A on a long note and the listener waits for B♭.
The family
- A♯ MajorB♭ C D E♭ F G A
From A♯ major: remove 4 and 7
A♯ Major PentatonicB♭ C D F GFrom A♯ major: flatten 3, 6 and 7
A♯ Natural MinorB♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ ♭3 ♭6 ♭7From A♯ natural minor: remove 2 and ♭6
A♯ Minor PentatonicB♭ D♭ E♭ F A♭ ♭3 ♭7From A♯ natural minor: raise the 7 back
A♯ Harmonic MinorB♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A ♭3 ♭6From A♯ harmonic minor: raise the 6 back
A♯ Melodic MinorB♭ C D♭ E♭ F G A ♭3