Minor scales
Natural, harmonic and melodic minor, why there are three of them and when to use each one.
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Content under musical review. It may contain inaccuracies.
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Natural, harmonic and melodic minor, why there are three of them and when to use each one.
Applied
The major scale has one form, but minor has three. They all share what makes them minor, the minor third (b3), and differ in degrees 6 and 7. That difference decides whether the key has a leading tone pulling toward the tonic.
The three A minor scales:
In harmonic minor, the jump from F to G♯ sounds exotic: it's an augmented second (three half steps).
| Scale | Formula | Steps |
|---|---|---|
| Natural minor (aeolian) | 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 | W H W W H W W |
| Harmonic minor | 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 | W H W W H W+H H |
| Melodic minor | 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 | W H W W W W H |
Natural minor on the fretboard, with degrees:
String 6, Open: E2 · 5 · Fifth
And harmonic minor: compare where the 7 sits.
String 6, Open: E2 · 5 · Fifth
Switch between the three in the explorer and play the same fingering, changing only notes 6 and 7:
Natural minor Harmonic minor Melodic minorIn practice, a minor-key piece mixes all three: natural minor for most chords, the raised 7 on the dominant, and the raised 6 in certain melodic lines.
The relative key shares notes (A minor and C major). The parallel key shares the tonic (A minor and A major). When soloing, think relative: a C major fingering works for A minor if you centre your phrases on A. When writing, think parallel: moving from A major to A minor changes the colour without moving home.
Modes of harmonic minorIn natural minor, the chord on the fifth degree is minor and the seventh degree sits a whole step below the tonic: no leading tone, so the dominant loses its pull. That's why tonal harmony in minor raises the 7 in dominant chords (E7, G♯dim7). Kostka and Payne, and Aldwell and Schachter, present the three forms as one system in which degrees 6 and 7 are variable.
Melodic minor generates its own modes, widely used in jazz: the seventh mode is the altered scale and the fourth is lydian dominant (Levine devotes a chapter to these scales).