Scales, Keys & Modes

Harmonic Minor Scale

Definition

The harmonic minor scale is a natural minor scale with its 7th degree raised a half step, so it leads strongly back to the tonic. In A minor that turns G into G♯.

The harmonic minor scale is the natural minor scale with one change: the 7th note is raised a half step. In A minor, G becomes G♯, and the scale reads A B C D E F G♯ A.

Treble clef in 4/4. Quarter notes climb A B C D E F G-sharp A and fall back to a half-note A. Curved lines join B–C, E–F and G-sharp–A in both directions. Degree numbers are written underneath, with the G-sharp labeled sharp 7. — A harmonic minor up and down. The raised 7th, G♯, is marked ♯7. The curved lines join the three half steps (B–C, E–F and G♯–A); between F and G♯ is the augmented second, three half steps wide.

Why raise the 7th?

In natural minor, the 7th degree sits a whole step below the tonic (G to A), so it has little pull toward home. Raising it to G♯ makes it a leading tone, a half step below the tonic, just as B is in C major. The scale now ends with the same "almost there, and home" feeling that the major scale has.

The name comes from harmony. Build a triad on the 5th degree of A natural minor and you get E G B, an E minor chord. Raise the G and the chord becomes E G♯ B, E major: a true dominant chord that pulls firmly to A minor. That major V chord, and the dominant seventh chord E G♯ B D, is what composers want at cadences in a minor key, and harmonic minor is the scale that supplies it.

Two grand-staff examples in 4/4, each one bar. First: E minor chord (E G B) over a bass E, then A minor (E A C) over a bass A, labeled v and i. Second: E major chord (E G-sharp B) over E, then A minor over A, labeled V and i. — Two ways to end in A minor. With natural minor's G, the chord on the 5th degree is E minor (v), and the move to A minor sounds mild. With harmonic minor's G♯ it is E major (V), and the G♯ rises a half step to A: a much stronger close.

The augmented second

Raising the 7th opens a wide gap between the 6th and 7th degrees: F to G♯ in A minor. That step is three half steps wide, an augmented second, and it gives the scale its distinctive, slightly exotic sound. The full step pattern is:

W – H – W – W – H – (W+H) – H

A harmonic minor: the white keys from A to A, with G♯ (coral) in place of G. Listen for the wide step from F to G♯.

Melody writers in the Classical style often avoided that leap, which is one reason the melodic minor scale exists. Elsewhere the interval is a feature: it is prominent in klezmer and in some Middle Eastern and Balkan music, though those traditions organize their scales in their own ways.

Writing it with a key signature

Harmonic minor shares its key signature with natural minor, so the raised 7th is written as an accidental each time it appears: G♯ in A minor, D♯ in E minor, C♯ in D minor. In flat keys the raised note can be a natural: in C minor (three flats) the 7th is B♮. That accidental is often your first clue that a piece is in a minor key rather than its relative major.

Playing it

Harmonic minor uses the same notes going up and coming down. Many piano teachers give it as the first minor scale to learn in each key, and the minor-key pages of Scales in Every Key and Contrary-Motion Scales are built on it. In A minor the fingering is the same as for the natural form; only the augmented second feels new under the hand, so take it slowly at first.

Common questions

Why is it called the harmonic minor scale?

Because it comes from harmony. Raising the 7th degree turns the chord on the 5th degree into a major chord (E major in A minor), which gives a minor key a strong dominant-to-tonic cadence. The scale collects the notes those chords use.

Is harmonic minor the same going up and down?

Yes. Unlike the melodic minor scale, harmonic minor keeps the raised 7th in both directions: A B C D E F G♯ A going up, and A G♯ F E D C B A coming down.