Zarlino

C harmonic minor

Natural minor, fixed for endings.

One change: raise the seventh from B♭ to B. That turns the five chord from Gm into G, and puts a note one fret below home.

It also opens a three-fret gap between A♭ and B. 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

Position
Show
Position 1, frets 0 to 4
  • High E string: F at fret 1, G at fret 3, A♭ at fret 4
  • B string: B at fret 0, C at fret 1, D at fret 3, E♭ at fret 4
  • G string: G at fret 0, A♭ at fret 1, B at fret 4
  • D string: D at fret 0, E♭ at fret 1, F at fret 3
  • A string: B at fret 2, C at fret 3
  • Low E string: F at fret 1, G at fret 3, A♭ at fret 4

The notes

In order, with the frets between them: C2D1E♭2F2G1A♭3B1C

Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. B now sits a single fret below C and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from A♭ to B.

What each interval does

Home. B sits one fret below and pulls toward it.

C

Perfect unison

Two frets up from C: whole step.

D

Major second

One fret up from D: half step.

E♭

Minor third

Two frets up from E♭: whole step.

F

Perfect fourth

Two frets up from F: whole step.

G

Perfect fifth

One fret up from G: half step.

A♭

Minor sixth

Three frets up from A♭: augmented second.

B

Major seventh

Playing C harmonic minor

  • Three open strings.

    D, G and B belong. That’s one more than natural minor, because raising the seventh turns B♭ back into B, and the open B string is now the note pulling hardest toward home.

  • The gap.

    A♭ to B is three frets on the same string, the only step in the scale wider than two. Most of harmonic minor’s sound lives there. It’s a stretch on one string, so most players split it across two.

  • The five chord is major again.

    In natural minor the five chord is Gm, which barely pushes. Here it’s G or G7, both open shapes, and suddenly the key pulls back to Cm. Minor-key classical music is built on that one change.

  • The capo route.

    Capo 3 with A minor shapes again, but play E7 as your five chord instead of Em. Am, Dm and E7 become Cm, Fm and G7: the classic minor-key cadence, all in open position.

  • Where you’ll meet it.

    Baroque and classical minor-key writing, neoclassical metal, and flamenco-flavoured playing, which leans on the scale started from its fifth note. Nearly all of its character comes from that three-fret gap.

The chords

Same method: take a note, skip one, take the next. Most of the chords match natural minor. The new one is on E♭. E♭–G–B 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.

G–B–D, four then three, turns the five chord major.

How chords are built from a scale

Degree i
Degree ii°
Degree III+
Degree iv
Degree V
Degree VI
Degree vii°

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 C harmonic minor, i–iv–V is Cm–Fm–G.

Chord pages: Cm, Ddim, E♭aug, Fm, G, A♭, Bdim

Position
Show
Cm, Am form, frets 3 to 6
  • High E string: G at fret 3
  • B string: E♭ at fret 4
  • G string: C at fret 5
  • D string: G at fret 5
  • A string: C at fret 3
  • Low E string: not played

Cm chord: all voicings and theory

The three functions

The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.

  1. Tonic

    home

    • Cmi

  2. Pre-dominant

    moving

    • Fmiv
    • Ddimii°rare
    • A♭VI

  3. Dominant

    tension

    • GV
    • Bdimvii°rare

resolves back to Cm

G is G–B–D and Bdim is B–D–F. They share B and D, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.

Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no B 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.

Classical progressions in C harmonic minor
NameNumeralsIn C
Minor cadencecommonV–iG – Cm
Full minor cadencecommoni–iv–V–iCm – Fm – G – Cm
Pre-dominant approachii°–V–iDdim – G – Cm
DeceptiverareV–VIG – A♭

Jazz

Jazz plays the same move with seventh chords. The minor two-five-one closes a huge number of minor-key standards.

Jazz progressions in C harmonic minor
NameNumeralsIn C
Minor two-five-onecommoniiø7–V7–iDm7♭5 – G7 – Cm
Minor turnaroundi–VI–iiø7–V7Cm – A♭maj7 – Dm7♭5 – G7

Spanish and flamenco

Here the music leans on the five chord itself. G 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.

Spanish and flamenco progressions in C harmonic minor
NameNumeralsIn C
Andalusian cadencecommoni–VII–VI–VCm – B♭ – A♭ – Gborrows B♭ from natural minor
Phrygian vampV–VI–VG – A♭ – G

Writing with this

Putting chords under a melody

The note that can only mean one thing.

Hold a B in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: G, Bdim and E♭+. All three are unstable.

So a B in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put B on a long note and the listener waits for C.

The family