G♯ harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from F♯ to F𝄪. That turns the five chord from D♯m into D♯, and puts a note one fret below home.
F𝄪 is the same fret as G. The scale spells it F𝄪 so every letter appears once.
It also opens a three-fret gap between E and F𝄪. 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 3, G♯ at fret 4
- B string: C♯ at fret 2, D♯ at fret 4
- G string: G♯ at fret 1, A♯ at fret 3, B at fret 4
- D string: D♯ at fret 1, E at fret 2
- A string: A♯ at fret 1, B at fret 2, C♯ at fret 4
- Low E string: F𝄪 at fret 3, G♯ at fret 4
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: G♯2A♯1B2C♯2D♯1E3F𝄪1G♯
Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. F𝄪 now sits a single fret below G♯ and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from E to F𝄪.
Home. Every other note is measured from it. F𝄪 (the same fret as G) sits one fret below.
G♯
Perfect unison
Two frets up from G♯: whole step.
A♯
Major second
One fret up from A♯: half step.
B
Minor third
Two frets up from B: whole step.
C♯
Perfect fourth
Two frets up from C♯: whole step.
D♯
Perfect fifth
One fret up from D♯: half step.
E
Minor sixth
Three frets up from E: augmented second. F𝄪 is the same fret as G.
F𝄪
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 B. B–D♯–F𝄪 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.
D♯–F𝄪–A♯, 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 G♯ harmonic minor, i–iv–V is G♯m–C♯m–D♯.
- High E string: G♯ at fret 4
- B string: D♯ at fret 4
- G string: B at fret 4
- D string: G♯ at fret 6
- A string: D♯ at fret 6
- Low E string: G♯ at fret 4
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- G♯mi
Pre-dominant
moving
- C♯miv
- A♯dimii°rare
- EVI
Dominant
tension
- D♯V
- F𝄪dimvii°rare
resolves back to G♯m
D♯ is D♯–F𝄪–A♯ and F𝄪dim is F𝄪–A♯–C♯. They share F𝄪 and A♯, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.
Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no F𝄪 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 G♯ |
|---|---|---|
| Minor cadencecommon | V–i | D♯ – G♯m |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | G♯m – C♯m – D♯ – G♯m |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | A♯dim – D♯ – G♯m |
| Deceptiverare | V–VI | D♯ – E |
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 G♯ |
|---|---|---|
| Minor two-five-onecommon | iiø7–V7–i | A♯m7♭5 – D♯7 – G♯m |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | G♯m – Emaj7 – A♯m7♭5 – D♯7 |
Spanish and flamenco
Here the music leans on the five chord itself. D♯ 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 G♯ |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusian cadencecommon | i–VII–VI–V | G♯m – F♯ – E – D♯borrows F♯ from natural minor |
| Phrygian vamp | V–VI–V | D♯ – E – D♯ |
Writing with this
Putting chords under a melody
The note that can only mean one thing.
Hold an F𝄪 in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: D♯, F𝄪dim and B+. All three are unstable.
So an F𝄪 in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put F𝄪 on a long note and the listener waits for G♯.
The family
- G♯ MajorA♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G
From G♯ major: remove 4 and 7
G♯ Major PentatonicA♭ B♭ C E♭ FFrom G♯ major: flatten 3, 6 and 7
G♯ Natural MinorG♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E F♯ ♭3 ♭6 ♭7From G♯ natural minor: remove 2 and ♭6
G♯ Minor PentatonicG♯ B C♯ D♯ F♯ ♭3 ♭7From G♯ natural minor: raise the 7 back
G♯ Harmonic MinorG♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E F𝄪 ♭3 ♭6From G♯ harmonic minor: raise the 6 back
G♯ Melodic MinorG♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ F𝄪 ♭3