The Harmonic Minor Scale on Guitar

The harmonic minor scale is the natural minor with its seventh raised by a semitone: 1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, 7. In A that's A, B, C, D, E, F and G♯. The raised seventh turns the fifth chord from minor into major (E instead of Em), which pulls strongly back to A minor, and it leaves the scale's distinctive three-fret gap between F and G♯.

What the harmonic minor is, and why it exists

The natural minor scale has a problem that composers noticed centuries ago. Its seventh note sits a whole step below the root, so nothing pulls back home very strongly, and the chord built on its fifth note is minor. In A natural minor that chord is E minor, which sounds soft as it returns to Am.

Raise the seventh — G to G♯ — and two things change. The G♯ is now a semitone below A, so it leads strongly up to the root. And the fifth chord becomes E major (E, G♯, B), or E7 if you add the D, which pulls back to Am far harder than Em does. That's the “harmonic” in harmonic minor: the scale exists to make that chord. It's why so many minor-key songs, from classical pieces to flamenco and metal, use an E or E7 chord in A minor.

If the natural minor scale is new to you, start there: the harmonic minor is that scale with one note moved. It's part of the guitar scale lessons.

Harmonic minor vs natural minor and Dorian

Three minor scales are easy to confuse, and each differs by only one or two notes. Compared on the same root, A:

Aeolian is simply the natural minor's name as a mode, so the harmonic minor differs from Aeolian in exactly the same way: the seventh. Dorian raises the sixth instead, which brightens the scale; the harmonic minor raises the seventh, which sharpens its pull back to the root. They solve different problems, and the modes guide covers Dorian in more detail.

A two-octave shape

This shape has its root at the 5th fret of the low E string, around the same area as the first A minor pentatonic position. The raised seventh, G♯, is outlined.

If you know the natural minor shape in this position, only the Gs have moved: each is now a fret higher. The gap between F and G♯ is three semitones, an augmented second. In this shape it crosses a string each time: F at the 8th fret of the A string to G♯ at the 6th of the D, and F at the 6th fret of the B string to G♯ at the 4th of the high e. That step is the sound of the scale. Play F to G♯ slowly and you'll hear the exotic, slightly Middle-Eastern colour it's known for.

Playing it in other keys

The shape is movable. Put its lowest root on the key's note on the low E string and the fingering stays the same. In each key, the raised seventh is the note a semitone below the root, and it makes the fifth chord major:

The chords of the harmonic minor

Build a triad on each note of A harmonic minor and you get these seven chords, numbered the same way as the chords in a major key. The raised seventh changes three of them compared with the natural minor:

The V chord (E major, or E7 with the D added) is the one you'll meet most. C augmented and G♯ diminished are rarer, but they're where the scale's tension comes from.

How to use it

Over the V chord in a minor key

The most practical use is targeted: play the natural minor or minor pentatonic over most of a minor-key progression, and switch to the harmonic minor when the E or E7 chord arrives. Its G♯ is the third of E, so landing on it as the chord changes makes the line follow the harmony. That's the same idea as landing on each chord's third.

Over Am, Dm, E7

Over a progression like Am, Dm, E7, Am, the harmonic minor fits all the way through: it contains every note of all three chords. It sounds darker and more classical than the natural minor, especially when you lean on the F to G♯ gap.

Phrygian dominant: the same notes from E

Start A harmonic minor on its fifth note and you get E, F, G♯, A, B, C, D, known as Phrygian dominant. It's the sound of a lot of flamenco and metal, played over an E or E7 chord as home. The notes are identical; only the centre has moved.

The melodic minor, briefly

The melodic minor raises both the sixth and the seventh: 1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, 7. In A that's A, B, C, D, E, F♯ and G♯. Raising the sixth as well removes the harmonic minor's three-fret gap, which is why it's called melodic: it's smoother to sing.

Its chords change again. In A melodic minor they're Am, Bm, C+, D, E, F♯° and G♯°. The fifth chord is still E major, but the second and fourth are now Bm and D major, because the F♯ replaces F in both.

In classical theory, the melodic minor uses those raised notes going up and reverts to the natural minor coming down. In jazz, it's usually played the same way in both directions and is the source of several common jazz scales. For most rock and blues playing, the harmonic minor is the one you'll reach for; the melodic minor is worth knowing when you hear a minor melody with a bright, rising sixth.

A practice routine

Ten minutes a day.

1. Week 1 — the shape. Play A natural minor in this position, then the harmonic minor, raising each G. Then the harmonic minor on its own, slowly, naming each degree.
2. Week 2 — the gap. Make short phrases that use the F to G♯ step and resolve G♯ up to A. Play them over an A drone.
3. Week 3 — over the changes. Over Am, Dm, E7, use the minor pentatonic for Am and Dm and the harmonic minor over E7, landing on G♯.
4. Week 4 — Phrygian dominant. Play the same notes over an E drone, treating E as home.