A harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from G to G♯. That turns the five chord from Em into E, and puts a note one fret below home.
It also opens a three-fret gap between F and G♯. 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: E at fret 0, F at fret 1
- B string: B at fret 0, C at fret 1, D at fret 3
- G string: G♯ at fret 1, A at fret 2
- D string: D at fret 0, E at fret 2, F at fret 3
- A string: A at fret 0, B at fret 2, C at fret 3
- Low E string: E at fret 0, F at fret 1
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: A2B1C2D2E1F3G♯1A
Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. G♯ now sits a single fret below A and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from F to G♯.
Home. Every other note is measured from it. G♯ sits one fret below.
A
Perfect unison
Two frets up from A: whole step.
B
Major second
One fret up from B: half step.
C
Minor third
Two frets up from C: whole step.
D
Perfect fourth
Two frets up from D: whole step.
E
Perfect fifth
One fret up from E: half step.
F
Minor sixth
Three frets up from F: augmented second.
G♯
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 C. C–E–G♯ 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.
E–G♯–B, 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 A harmonic minor, i–iv–V is Am–Dm–E.
- High E string: E at fret 0
- B string: C at fret 1
- G string: A at fret 2
- D string: E at fret 2
- A string: A at fret 0
- Low E string: not played
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- Ami
Pre-dominant
moving
- Dmiv
- Bdimii°rare
- FVI
Dominant
tension
- EV
- G♯dimvii°rare
resolves back to Am
E is E–G♯–B and G♯dim is G♯–B–D. They share G♯ and B, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.
Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no G♯ 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 A |
|---|---|---|
| Minor cadencecommon | V–i | E – Am |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | Am – Dm – E – Am |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | Bdim – E – Am |
| Deceptiverare | V–VI | E – F |
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 A |
|---|---|---|
| Minor two-five-onecommon | iiø7–V7–i | Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | Am – Fmaj7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 |
Spanish and flamenco
Here the music leans on the five chord itself. E 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 A |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusian cadencecommon | i–VII–VI–V | Am – G – F – Eborrows G from natural minor |
| Phrygian vamp | V–VI–V | E – F – E |
Writing with this
Putting chords under a melody
The note that can only mean one thing.
Hold a G♯ in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: E, G♯dim and C+. All three are unstable.
So a G♯ in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put G♯ on a long note and the listener waits for A.
The family
- A MajorA B C♯ D E F♯ G♯
From A major: remove 4 and 7
A Major PentatonicA B C♯ E F♯From A major: flatten 3, 6 and 7
A Natural MinorA B C D E F G ♭3 ♭6 ♭7From A natural minor: remove 2 and ♭6
A Minor PentatonicA C D E G ♭3 ♭7From A natural minor: raise the 7 back
A Harmonic MinorA B C D E F G♯ ♭3 ♭6From A harmonic minor: raise the 6 back
A Melodic MinorA B C D E F♯ G♯ ♭3