D harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from C to C♯. That turns the five chord from Am into A, and puts a note one fret below home.
It also opens a three-fret gap between B♭ and C♯. 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, G at fret 3
- B string: C♯ at fret 2, D at fret 3
- G string: G at fret 0, A at fret 2, B♭ at fret 3
- D string: D at fret 0, E at fret 2, F at fret 3
- A string: A at fret 0, B♭ at fret 1
- Low E string: E at fret 0, F at fret 1, G at fret 3
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: D2E1F2G2A1B♭3C♯1D
Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. C♯ now sits a single fret below D and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from B♭ to C♯.
Home. Every other note is measured from it. C♯ sits one fret below.
D
Perfect unison
Two frets up from D: whole step.
E
Major second
One fret up from E: half step.
F
Minor third
Two frets up from F: whole step.
G
Perfect fourth
Two frets up from G: whole step.
A
Perfect fifth
One fret up from A: half step.
B♭
Minor sixth
Three frets up from B♭: augmented second.
C♯
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 F. F–A–C♯ 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.
A–C♯–E, 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 D harmonic minor, i–iv–V is Dm–Gm–A.
- High E string: F at fret 1
- B string: D at fret 3
- G string: A at fret 2
- D string: D at fret 0
- A string: not played
- Low E string: not played
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- Dmi
Pre-dominant
moving
- Gmiv
- Edimii°rare
- B♭VI
Dominant
tension
- AV
- C♯dimvii°rare
resolves back to Dm
A is A–C♯–E and C♯dim is C♯–E–G. They share C♯ and E, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.
Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no C♯ 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 D |
|---|---|---|
| Minor cadencecommon | V–i | A – Dm |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | Dm – Gm – A – Dm |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | Edim – A – Dm |
| Deceptiverare | V–VI | A – B♭ |
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 D |
|---|---|---|
| Minor two-five-onecommon | iiø7–V7–i | Em7♭5 – A7 – Dm |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | Dm – B♭maj7 – Em7♭5 – A7 |
Spanish and flamenco
Here the music leans on the five chord itself. A 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 D |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusian cadencecommon | i–VII–VI–V | Dm – C – B♭ – Aborrows C from natural minor |
| Phrygian vamp | V–VI–V | A – B♭ – A |
Writing with this
Putting chords under a melody
The note that can only mean one thing.
Hold a C♯ in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: A, C♯dim and F+. All three are unstable.
So a C♯ in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put C♯ on a long note and the listener waits for D.
The family
- D MajorD E F♯ G A B C♯
From D major: remove 4 and 7
D Major PentatonicD E F♯ A BFrom D major: flatten 3, 6 and 7
D Natural MinorD E F G A B♭ C ♭3 ♭6 ♭7From D natural minor: remove 2 and ♭6
D Minor PentatonicD F G A C ♭3 ♭7From D natural minor: raise the 7 back
D Harmonic MinorD E F G A B♭ C♯ ♭3 ♭6From D harmonic minor: raise the 6 back
D Melodic MinorD E F G A B C♯ ♭3