F harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from E♭ to E. That turns the five chord from Cm into C, and puts a note one fret below home.
It also opens a three-fret gap between D♭ and E. 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, A♭ at fret 4
- B string: C at fret 1, D♭ at fret 2
- G string: G at fret 0, A♭ at fret 1, B♭ at fret 3
- D string: E at fret 2, F at fret 3
- A string: B♭ at fret 1, C at fret 3, D♭ at fret 4
- Low E string: E at fret 0, F at fret 1, G at fret 3, A♭ at fret 4
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: F2G1A♭2B♭2C1D♭3E1F
Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. E now sits a single fret below F and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from D♭ to E.
Home. Every other note is measured from it. E sits one fret below.
F
Perfect unison
Two frets up from F: whole step.
G
Major second
One fret up from G: half step.
A♭
Minor third
Two frets up from A♭: whole step.
B♭
Perfect fourth
Two frets up from B♭: whole step.
C
Perfect fifth
One fret up from C: half step.
D♭
Minor sixth
Three frets up from D♭: augmented second.
E
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 A♭. A♭–C–E 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.
C–E–G, 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 F harmonic minor, i–iv–V is Fm–B♭m–C.
- High E string: F at fret 1
- B string: C at fret 1
- G string: A♭ at fret 1
- D string: F at fret 3
- A string: C at fret 3
- Low E string: F at fret 1
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- Fmi
Pre-dominant
moving
- B♭miv
- Gdimii°rare
- D♭VI
Dominant
tension
- CV
- Edimvii°rare
resolves back to Fm
C is C–E–G and Edim is E–G–B♭. They share E and G, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.
Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no E 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 F |
|---|---|---|
| Minor cadencecommon | V–i | C – Fm |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | Fm – B♭m – C – Fm |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | Gdim – C – Fm |
| Deceptiverare | V–VI | C – D♭ |
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 F |
|---|---|---|
| Minor two-five-onecommon | iiø7–V7–i | Gm7♭5 – C7 – Fm |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | Fm – D♭maj7 – Gm7♭5 – C7 |
Spanish and flamenco
Here the music leans on the five chord itself. C 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 F |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusian cadencecommon | i–VII–VI–V | Fm – E♭ – D♭ – Cborrows E♭ from natural minor |
| Phrygian vamp | V–VI–V | C – D♭ – C |
Writing with this
Putting chords under a melody
The note that can only mean one thing.
Hold an E in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: C, Edim and A♭+. All three are unstable.
So an E in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put E on a long note and the listener waits for F.
The family
- F MajorF G A B♭ C D E
From F major: remove 4 and 7
F Major PentatonicF G A C DFrom F major: flatten 3, 6 and 7
F Natural MinorF G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ ♭3 ♭6 ♭7From F natural minor: remove 2 and ♭6
F Minor PentatonicF A♭ B♭ C E♭ ♭3 ♭7From F natural minor: raise the 7 back
F Harmonic MinorF G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E ♭3 ♭6From F harmonic minor: raise the 6 back
F Melodic MinorF G A♭ B♭ C D E ♭3