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Minor

It's not that there are 3 different minor scales; it's that there are 3 variations of the same scale.

  • that is, some notes of the minor scale may be changed around to achieve some kind of melodic harmony.
  • note: that there are other forms of minor scales too. There's the pentatonic minor, Hungarian minor, Jazz minor, Neapolitan and so on.

Natural minor (Aeolian)

Chords that sound nice with the scale:

  • min7 (minor 3rd, minor 7th)
    • ex. C-E♭-G-B♭

Harmonic minor

The major scale features a half-step between the 7th and 8th notes of the scale. This interval has a sort of tension-resolution effect. On the other hand, the natural minor scale doesn't have this same feature, since there is a whole step between the 7th and 8th scale degrees.

This is why the harmonic minor scale exists: it allows us to add that tension-resolution interval to the minor scale. The only difference between it and the natural minor is the raised 7th.

  • As a result, when playing in a minor scale, the 7th is only really sharpened when we are going for that tension-resolution effect.

The only difference from the natural minor is that the 7th is sharpened, giving us a leading tone, making it want to point back to the tonic

Chords that sound nice with the scale:

  • minMaj7 (minor 3rd, major 7th)
    • ex. C Eb G B
    • this can be used as the i
    • this works because the chord is formed by the i, iii, v and vii degrees of the harmonic minor scale.
  • dim
    • can be extended by adding a minor 7th (D°⁷/Dmin7♭5)

Melodic minor

A problem arises with the harmonic minor: the interval between the 6th and 7th scale degrees is 3 semitones, which is rather large.

  • ex. in A harmonic minor, this interval is F-G♯
  • To compensate, we can simply raise the 6th so that the interval is only a major 2nd
    • doing this creates a smoother melody when we are leading towards a tonic. However, when we are moving away from a tonic, the natural minor is typically used.

Characterized by the flat 3rd, sharp 6th and sharp 7th

ques: what's the association between natural minor and Dorian?

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