The Awesome Harmonic Minor Scale

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Bigstock photo
The harmonic minor scale is often used in neo-classical, gypsy and jazz music.

But also rock guitar players like to step outside of the pentatonic or minor scale now and then and add this kind of middle eastern sound to their solos to keep things interesting.

It really catches the ear of the listener because something different and exciting is happening. John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Marty Friedman are good examples of guitar players who incorporate the harmonic minor tastefully into their solos.

If you’re ready to add some cool flavor to play over a minor chord or dominant seventh chord then let’s dive into it:

Formulas
The harmonic minor scale contains 7 notes. The scale formula = 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7. So compared to the major scale (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) it’s got a minor third and a minor sixth.

The harmonic minor scale and the natural minor scale (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) are pretty much the same expect the harmonic minor has raised it’s 7th by one semitone.

If you play an harmonic minor scale on a single string the pattern of whole and half steps are:
“whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole & a half, half”.
(half step = 1 fret, whole step = 2 frets, whole & a half = 3 frets)
So the formula in semitones = 2 1 2 2 1 3 1

Here’s how you play an A harmonic minor scale. The root note starting on the 6th string (Low E-string)

Here’s the harmonic minor scale starting on the 5th string (A-string): D harmonic minor scale.

The chords
Just like the major scale you can build chords of the harmonic minor scale. If you stack a third and a fifth on top of each scale degree of the harmonic minor scale you get seven chords that you can use for accompaniment to support your soloing.

Here’s the formula for finding chords in a harmonic minor scale:
1=minor, 2=diminished, b3=augmented, 4=minor, 5=major, b6=major, 7=dim.
So if your playing in the key of A, you get the following chords:
Am – Bdim – Caug – Dm – E – F – G#dim.

We can also stack another third on top of each scale degree (3rd,5th and 7th) to extend the chords.
We get the following formula:
1=minorMaj7, 2=minor7b5, b3=Maj7#5, 4=minor7, 5=dom7, b6=Maj7, 7=dim7.
So if your playing in the key of A, you get the following chords:
AmMaj7 – Bm7b5 – CMaj7#5 – Dm7 – E7 – FMaj7 – G#dim7.

These are not all chords that you will use in main stream pop, blues or rock music, but a common progression is i-iv-V7. In the key of A that would be: Am – Dm – E7.
An example for jazz is a iim7b5-V7-i chord progression. In the key of A that is: Bm7b5 – E7 – Am
You’re free to create your own combinations.

Applying the scale
The harmonic minor scale can be played over a minor chord, so if you’re playing a song or chord progression in the key of A minor you can use the A harmonic minor scale. Playing a song in Em? Use the E harmonic minor scale and so on.

Dominant seventh
You can also apply the harmonic minor scale over a dominant 7th chord (V7). The V7 (five-seventh) chord is built on the 5th degree of the scale (also known as the dominant), that means if you want to use the harmonic minor scale over (let’s say) an E7 chord you’ve got to play A harmonic minor, because E is the fifth of A.

Let’s give you another example. If you want to use the harmonic minor scale over a C7 chord you have to play F harmonic minor (C is the fifth of F).
Another simple approach for those who are not familiar with music theory: Harmonic minor scale over a D7 chord? Go up 5 half steps (frets) from D = G and play G harmonic minor.

Harmonic minor exercises:
– Practice each scale ascending and descending using alternate picking technique.

– Practice each scale in all keys starting on the 1st fret, each time moving up a half step all the way up to the 12th fret and back again.

– Play the scale ascending starting on the 2nd fret, then go up a half step and play the scale descending, go up a half step and play it ascending, up a half step and play the scale descending and so on. All the way up the 12th fret and then all way back again.

– A challenging exercise is to combine both harmonic minor scale and natural minor scale in one exercise: Play the harmonic minor scale ascending and then the natural minor scale descending, then go up a half step and play the natural minor scale ascending and the harmonic minor scale descending, go up a half step and play the harmonic minor scale ascending and then the natural minor scale descending, and so on. All the way to the 12th fret and back again.

– Learn to create and combine melody from the harmonic minor, natural minor and the minor pentatonic scale tastefully into your solos and improvisation.

– Develop your aural skills. Try to sing the harmonic minor scale ascending and descending and then sing the natural minor scale ascending and descending. If you got that down, sing the harmonic minor scale each time up a half step ascending and descending or even more challenging, sing it ascending and then up a half step descending, up a half step ascending, up a half step descending. This is really good ear training stuff to learn to recognize scale notes and analyzing melody.

Note: Practice your scales in different keys to really master them inside out. It will really pay off.

Be awesome!

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