And we would then have a pleasing V-i resolution to the Cm. However, if we take the G-7 chord (G Bb D F) and raise the third one half step to B natural, we would have a G7 chord (GBDF). The v chord is minor, a lower case Roman numeral. To go v-I in the C minor scale, does not create resolution. Melody is one note at a time, harmony is more than one note at a time.Ĭoming back to how you keep those two scales straight: in the C major scale you have V-I (G7-C) which creates a pleasing cadence (tension and resolution) for the ear. He didn't want to hear the complicated lick I wrote, he wanted to hear the chords for that section. "Just play the chords in that section, so I can hear the harmony", the bass player replied.
I wrote a tune last year with a complicated 16th note guitar figure, and when I recorded a demo into the 'voice memos' app on my phone, I asked my band how they wanted me to play it. " The Beatles have great harmonies", implies that one guy knew if he was singing C-D-E, another guy could sing E-F-G and it would sound cool.
Harmony can get a little more complicated. Whether it's "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Stairway to Heaven", it's the melody lines that go on repeat in our heads. Without rhythm, we would just have static noise. The rhythm is the glue that holds everything together. Music has only three aspects: melody, harmony, and rhythm. It's a very pleasing cadence, I immediately felt a sense of deja vu when my first guitar teacher had me play the two chords together. The basis of all western music, from Bach to the Beatles, or as they say "from Abba to Zappa" is the V-I resolution. I struggled to get my head wrapped around these exotic scales, and I'm hoping that the following line of reasoning can help you grasp the concept in a much more expeditious manner.īefore we dive into music theory land, let's just make sure a few things are clear. They also sounded strange compared to the 12 bar format of 3 dominant 7th chords I was used to playing on. The fingerings were counter-intuitive relative to my blues/rock upbringing.
#Harmonic minor scale how to
When I was discovering how to play 'out', one of the first things I learned was using the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales. There are, of course seven modes of the harmonic minor scale just as there are with the diatonic scale, none of them have common names, and it is only the harmonic minor which is tonally effective.One is about changing the harmony of the minor scale, the other one is about the melodies it creates. By using it as the harmonic resource for the minor mode one is emphasising its fundamental role in maintaining tonal function. In a sense the harmonic minor scale is the "default" scale to which the melodic variations must return in order for the tonality to be maintained.
The reason that the harmonic minor scale is used as the harmonic foundation of the minor mode is that, despite its melodic deficiencies, its tonality is very powerful and unambiguous, whereas the tonality of the aeolian mode is weakĪnd easily displaced, and the tonality of the melodic minor is even weaker and more ambiguous. It is not necessary though, and the melodic leap between the sixth and seventh degree can be used as an interesting feature. These devices are used simply to smooth the melodic line without disturbing tonal function in the scale too drastically, although repeated use of the natural sixth will weaken the tonal function of the scale. Both of these devices transform the augmented second into a major second. It is, however, avoided as the melodic foundation because of the "unmelodic" augmented second found between its sixth and seventh degrees.Ĭonventionally when the sixth degree proceeds to the seventh the sixth degree is raised by a chromatic semitone, and when the seventh degree proceeds to the sixth the seventh degree is lowered by a chromatic semitone. The harmonic minor scale is well known to common practice classical music because it is the harmonic foundation of minor mode music. If the tonic is c, the notes and chords are: c It is spelled, in numerical form (relative to the major scale): 1 The harmonic minor scale has just one tonally effective mode and that is the scale conventionally known as the harmonic minor scale.