Lessons · Beginner
Minor Scales - Natural, Harmonic and Melodic Minor
The three forms of the minor scale, how they are built, and why composers raise the 6th and 7th notes.
The major scale sounds bright and settled. The minor scale sounds darker, more serious or more wistful. But there is not just one minor scale: musicians use three closely related forms - natural, harmonic and melodic minor. They share the same lower half and differ only in the 6th and 7th notes. Once you understand why those two notes change, the whole minor system makes sense.
This lesson assumes you know the major scale and what whole steps and half steps are.
The natural minor scale
The natural minor scale is the "pure" form, taken straight from the key signature with no extra accidentals. In A minor it uses only white keys:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G
Its step pattern is W H W W H W W (W = whole step, H = half step). Compared with the major scale on the same root, three notes are lowered: the 3rd, the 6th and the 7th.
| Scale | Formula | Notes from A |
|---|---|---|
| A major | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | A B C# D E F# G# |
| A natural minor | 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 | A B C D E F G |
The flat 3rd is what makes a scale "minor". The b6 and b7 add to the dark colour.
Natural minor is the same as the Aeolian mode, the sixth mode of the major scale (see modes).
Relative and parallel minor
There are two ways to connect a minor key to a major key, and they are easy to confuse.
Relative minor: same notes, different home
Every major key has a relative minor that uses exactly the same notes and the same key signature. The relative minor starts on the 6th degree of the major scale - or, counting the other way, a minor 3rd below the major tonic.
| Major key | Relative minor | Key signature |
|---|---|---|
| C major | A minor | none |
| G major | E minor | 1 sharp (F#) |
| D major | B minor | 2 sharps |
| F major | D minor | 1 flat (Bb) |
| Bb major | G minor | 2 flats |
| Eb major | C minor | 3 flats |
C major and A minor contain the same seven notes, but they feel different because a different note sounds like "home". The full list is in the key signatures lesson and on the circle of fifths.
Parallel minor: same home, different notes
The parallel minor shares the same tonic but not the same notes. C major and C minor are parallel keys:
- C major: C D E F G A B
- C natural minor: C D Eb F G Ab Bb
Thinking in parallel is very useful for players: if you know a song in C major, you can hear what changes when it "turns minor" by lowering the 3rd, 6th and 7th. Borrowing chords from the parallel minor (for example Fm or Ab in the key of C major) is a common way to add colour to a major-key progression.
Why raise the 7th? The leading tone
In the major scale, the 7th degree sits a half step below the tonic (B to C in C major). That tiny gap creates a strong pull upward, and this note is called the leading tone. It is a big part of why the dominant chord (V) resolves so convincingly to the tonic.
In natural minor, the 7th is a whole step below the tonic (G to A in A minor). This note, called the subtonic, has a much weaker pull. The chord built on the 5th degree is also minor (E G B = Em), which resolves to Am only gently.
Composers wanted the strong pull of the major key while staying in minor. The solution: raise the 7th by a half step. In A minor, G becomes G#. Now the 5th-degree chord becomes E major (E G# B), or E7 (E G# B D), and it resolves strongly to A minor.
The harmonic minor scale
Natural minor with a raised 7th gives the harmonic minor scale. It is called "harmonic" because it comes from the needs of harmony - the chords - rather than melody.
- Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7
- A harmonic minor: A B C D E F G#
- Step pattern: W H W W H W+H H
Notice the gap between F and G#: three half steps, an augmented 2nd. This gives harmonic minor its exotic, slightly "Middle Eastern" or neoclassical flavour. It sounds great in some styles, but in traditional melody writing that jump was considered awkward to sing.
On the bass
On the bass, A natural minor fits in one position: start with finger 1 on A (string 4, fret 5) and use frets 5 to 8. For harmonic minor, the only change is G to G# on string 2: fret 6 instead of fret 5.
In bass lines, the raised 7th usually appears as a leading tone into the root: over E7, walk E – G# – B and let the G# resolve up to A when the music returns to Am.
More fingerings are in scales and modes on the bass.
The melodic minor scale
To smooth out the augmented 2nd, composers also raised the 6th when the melody climbs toward the tonic. The result is the melodic minor scale.
Classical melodic minor
In classical theory, melodic minor has two different forms:
- Ascending: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 - A B C D E F# G# A
- Descending: the natural minor - A G F E D C B A
The logic: going up, the raised 6th and 7th lead smoothly to the tonic. Coming down, there is no need for a leading tone, so the notes return to the natural minor form.
Jazz melodic minor
In jazz and modern theory, melodic minor uses the ascending form in both directions: A B C D E F# G# A, up and down. It is often thought of as "a major scale with a flat 3rd". This scale is the parent of several important jazz sounds, including the altered scale and Lydian dominant, which are modes of melodic minor. When a jazz musician says "melodic minor", this is what they mean.
All three side by side
| Scale | Formula | A minor | C minor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural minor | 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 | A B C D E F G | C D Eb F G Ab Bb |
| Harmonic minor | 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 | A B C D E F G# | C D Eb F G Ab B |
| Melodic minor (asc.) | 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 | A B C D E F# G# | C D Eb F G A B |
All three share the first five notes: 1 2 b3 4 5. Only the 6th and 7th change. That is an easy way to remember them.
In real music the three forms are mixed freely. A single minor-key piece may use natural minor for most chords, a raised 7th for the dominant chord, and a raised 6th and 7th in a rising melodic line.
Practice
- Spell the natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales starting on E, D and G. Check: E harmonic minor contains D#; D harmonic minor contains C#; G harmonic minor contains F#.
- Play A natural minor, then A harmonic minor, then A melodic minor (ascending and descending) on your instrument. Listen for the moment each new note appears.
- Find the relative minor of F, A and Eb major, and the relative major of B minor and F minor.
- Play an E7 chord followed by Am, then Em followed by Am. Describe the difference in pull.
- Improvise slowly over an A minor drone using harmonic minor, leaning on the G# to A resolution.
Explore and go further:
- See the scales on any instrument with the scale explorer: A natural minor, A harmonic minor, A melodic minor.
- Test yourself with scale spelling 1 and scale spelling 2.
- Train your ear to tell the scales apart with the ear trainer.
- Keep the scale formulas chart and key signatures chart on your stand.
- Visit the A minor key page, then continue with key signatures, modes and diatonic harmony.