6.4 · The Minor Scale

Three flavors of minor

The plain minor formula is natural minor. But composers kept wanting a harder pull home, so they raise the 7th a semitone: harmonic minor. A third flavor, melodic minor, smooths the climb.

Natural vs. harmonic

The two scales differ by one note: natural minor's G, harmonic minor's G♯. The raised 7th sits a half step under home and leans into it.

Why raise the 7th?

Climb to the 7th and stop. In natural minor the G sits a whole step from home: no urgency. Raise it to G♯ and it's a half step away, leaning into home.

The third flavor: melodic minor

Harmonic minor's raised 7th leaves a three-semitone gap between ♭6 and 7. Melodic minor smooths it by raising the 6th too, on the way up, then walks back down as plain natural minor.

Game · Which minor?

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One minor scale, played up from A. Which form is it?

Listen first. Then answer.

Quiz

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Harmonic minor raises which degree?

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson. A perfect run sticks: a later miss never undoes it.A chord on every minor step →