The Minor Scales
There are three minor scales, and most explanations start with the rules. This one starts with the problem: natural minor has no leading tone, so a minor key has no strong way home. The other two scales are both fixes for that, and each breaks something else.
- 7 notes
- 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- the flattened third
which styles use it
- Pop
- Deep house
- Film music
- Classical
How it is built
Natural minor is the major scale with the third, sixth and seventh lowered. Harmonic minor raises the seventh back up, which gives you a leading tone and a proper dominant chord, at the cost of a very wide gap between the sixth and the seventh. Melodic minor raises both the sixth and the seventh going up, which smooths that gap out, and traditionally drops back to natural minor coming down.
Dark and settled in its natural form. Harmonic minor adds drama and a Spanish edge. Melodic minor sounds almost major on the way up, which is exactly why it was invented.
Where to use it
Natural minor for pop, rock and dance, where a strong cadence matters less than a good loop. Harmonic minor when you want the V chord to pull properly, or when you are after that wide step. Melodic minor mostly in jazz, where it has a life of its own.
The chords that go with it
Natural minor gives you minor, diminished, major, minor, minor, major, major. Harmonic minor turns the fifth degree into a dominant seventh, which is the entire reason it exists.
What it gets confused with
With the major scale that shares its notes, and with itself: three versions of one scale is genuinely confusing until you hear what each one is for.