G harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from F to F♯. That turns the five chord from Dm into D, and puts a note one fret below home.
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 2, G at fret 3
- B string: C at fret 1, 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 1
- A string: A at fret 0, B♭ at fret 1, C at fret 3
- Low E string: F♯ at fret 2, G at fret 3
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: G2A1B♭2C2D1E♭3F♯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♯ 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♯
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 Gm–Cm–D.
- High E string: G at fret 3
- B string: D at fret 3
- G string: B♭ at fret 3
- D string: G at fret 5
- A string: D at fret 5
- Low E string: G at fret 3
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- Gmi
Pre-dominant
moving
- Cmiv
- Adimii°rare
- E♭VI
Dominant
tension
- DV
- F♯dimvii°rare
resolves back to Gm
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 – Gm |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | Gm – Cm – D – Gm |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | Adim – D – Gm |
| 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 | Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | Gm – E♭maj7 – Am7♭5 – D7 |
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 | Gm – F – E♭ – Dborrows 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 MajorG A B C D E F♯
From G major: remove 4 and 7
G Major PentatonicG A B D EFrom 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