The Harmonic Minor Scale

Music Theory Scale: Pentatonics & Why So Many Minors?
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This fictional story will help you understand why and how some scales came about!


View the full lesson at The Harmonic Minor Scale | JustinGuitar

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Hey! Quick question. Trying to wrap my head around this.

In Harmonic Minor Scale, Why didn’t changing the V chord to dominant (making it a G#) impact the rest of the chords? If the chords are all built off the scale, shouldn’t the C Major chord now have G# in it? Or any chord with a G?

Thanks!

Sean

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It does, and this makes it a C augmented chord.
A good challenge to yourself would be to write the A natural minor and the A harmonic minor scales, to then build their triads and name them by stacking in thirds then once done compare and contrast.

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Ah, that’s great idea, thanks! I’ll try that out.

In the video at 2:48, Justin gives an example where he would go Am to C to Dm to E7 back to Am. I think that part is tripping me up a bit. Would those be the chords in the key of Am? Im assuming not, based on what we just clarified. Or was he just giving a random example to show the perfect cadence?

Thanks!

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Yes, totally.
The dominant E7 resolution to tonic Am is the reason for the harmonic minor scale.
Often songs will be discussed as being in the minor key (meaning natural minor) and shifting to harmonic minor temporarily when that dominant 7 chord comes along. Progressions do not tend to be written solely in the key of harmonic minor using its diatonic chords. It is a composer’s tool to use only when needed, in small doses.

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Ah, ok got it. Thanks for the help! Appreciate it.

Best,

Sean

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As Richard explained, minor progressions often borrow chords built from the different minor scales.

We can construct seven chords (‘diatonic chords’) from each minor scale, just as with any other scale. With A minor being the root chord, we’d have the following diatonic chords for each minor scale:

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For the natural minor scale (‘Aeolian mode’), the chords are very practical, but maybe a bit boring. Luckily, we can borrow a few chords from the other minor scales to add some flavor to our progressions.

  • The most common use is probably taking the E major from the harmonic/melodic minor to get our perfect cadence.

  • Another chord that gets borrowed often is the major IV, in this case the D major chord. It lifts up the progression, making it less dark/sad.

  • What about that B diminished chord we tend to ignore? We now have access to either a B minor or a Bb major. The Bb major is the ideal candidate if you want to add a Spanish/Flamenco vibe, or if you’re into certain metal genres that use the Phrygian mode.

  • There’s also a G minor chord found exclusively in the Phrygian mode. Its use is perhaps less common, but nonetheless interesting.

  • Lastly, there are different augmented and diminished chords we can borrow to make our progression stand out. Personally I never use them, but they’re there.

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Wow! This is suuuuper helpful. Thanks so much for taking the time to break all this out. Seeing it laid out like this is awesome and really helps me wrap my brain around it. Thanks again!

-Sean

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