Melodic minor and harmonic minor are two great additions to your guitar scale vocabulary. Whereas the natural minor scale is the more commonly used, both of these different versions are a bit more exotic sounding than your garden variety minor scale. In today’s article, we’ll look at how each scale is built up, and how you can apply them moving forward.
The main difference between your major and minor scales is the third degree of the scale. Whereas in major scales, it’s a natural third (or major third), you’ll find that minor scales use a minor third. An interval that binds the two scales we’ll be looking at today.
Harmonic Minor
The harmonic minor scale differs from the natural due to its seventh degree being raised. For example, A minor goes;
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A
Whereas A harmonic minor goes;
A – B – C – D – E – F – G# – A
By raising that scale degree by a semitone, the gap between the sixth and seventh is wider, leading to a more exotic and perhaps Arabic sound.
It’s not really a scale you’d find a whole song written in, but is rather a scale that songwriters utilise to add depth and flavour to their top-lines and guitar licks. Take the main riff from ‘Plug in Baby’ by Muse which uses a mix of Dorian, blues scale and the harmonic.
Melodic Minor
The melodic minor is a little different to it’s two minor brethren. Occasionally referred to as a minor jazz scale or Ionian b3, it’s sound is notable due to the presence of a major sixth and major seventh alongside a minor third. If you’re into your jazz, this is the scale for you!
We’ve seen the intervals that the minor scale has, so what about the melodic minor? Here it is in A.
A – B – C – D – E – F# – G#
A contemporary example of the melodic minor being used, can be heard in the Paul McCartney penned Beatles track, ‘Yesterday‘. A distinctive rule that the it follows, is that it plays the natural minor on the way down. In ‘Yesterday’, a song in F Major, the vocal melody modulates to the relative minor, D minor, quite early on. Using melodic as a transitional tool. As with the harmonic, you won’t typically find a song written wholly in melodic minor as it is more often used to add flavour to a piece.
Using the Harmonic Minor
As with the earlier example, Plug in Baby, the harmonic minor is a scale that appears quite often in solos, riffs and when a chord progression resolves from a V7, to a minor chord. This is because in a minor key, there is no V7 that you’d typically find in a major key. So a good example would be the resolution of V7 – Im7. The dominant chord is also very easy to hear and provides that perfect cadence when used in a major key. So this resolution is that much more apparent when in a minor context.
It’s important to note, however, that when you play the harmonic over the dominant 7 chord, you’re not playing that chord’s version of the scale. For example, over E7, which is in the key of A Major, you would play A harmonic minor. When playing over the V chord, emphasis is placed on the major 7th tone, with this being the key tonal difference between natural and harmonic scales.
Using the Melodic Minor
Much the same as other minor scales, the melodic can essentially work over basic minor chords, due to it’s minor tonic. Combining the major 6th and major 7th intervals with the minor triad for example, giving the haunting sound associated with this scale. If we were to practice this scale over a chord progression, the key is to change between two differing minor scales.
We’re in A minor, why not colour the root chord with melodic minor, switching to a normal minor scale for chords G and D minor. Replacing the regular minor scale at the root of the key is common practice when deploying this variant. But it can also be worked over other parts of a key’s diatonic chords. As another example, the IV chord in major keys is a minor chord, which is easily complemented with melodic minor.
To Finish
Using these two scales can feel a little daunting at first, particularly as it can be tricky to hit the right tension and release with these exotic scales. But starting with a few of the above tips is a good way to go and should be able to provide a solid grounding to get going.
Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line and perhaps claim a free lesson!