The C harmonic minor scale is based on the natural minor scale with one major difference: for this harmonic minor scale, note 7th position of minor scale has been raised by half-tone / semitone to become note B.
This unusual scale may seem unfamiliar and is not as commonly used as either natural minor or melodic minor scales; however, its large jump can be used to great advantage for improvising!
Scale Shapes
The C Harmonic Minor Scale is one of the three major scales found in Western music and a great way to get started learning guitar. This scale can be found across Classical, jazz, metal and European folk genres.
Scales are vital in musical development as they allow you to understand how different notes on the guitar fit together and create sounds when played in certain patterns. Scales also give an idea of where frets are on your guitar and help develop fingering patterns you will use over and over in your playing.
When learning a new scale, break it into smaller parts and tackle one shape at a time. This will make it easier to get your fingers under the scale so that you can play without looking at a chart and make it much more manageable.
As your first task, strive to master the root position of the minor pentatonic scale (see diagrams below). This will enable you to get acquainted with how notes connect on the fretboard and are played ascending and descending order.
Once you are comfortable with the shape, try moving it up the fretboard to observe its effects and how its notes change across strings. For instance, moving the root position to the third fret will change the notes across 5th and 6th strings accordingly.
Once you’ve learned your scale, start creating melodies or musical phrases using its notes. This will enable you to understand how best to integrate its components with other notes in your playing and use its scale more creatively.
Building muscle memory is an excellent way to become a more efficient musician over time! The more often and quickly you practice, the easier and faster it will be to memorize new scale shapes!
The C harmonic minor scale is an essential one to learn as its notes are often employed when playing bass parts, fills and solos. Furthermore, it provides an ideal starting point for learning scalar bass parts and fills.
Chords
The C harmonic minor scale is a diatonic scale used widely across music genres ranging from classical compositions, such as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, to popular songs like Eye of the Tiger from ’80’s power anthem Eye of the Tiger and beyond. Additionally, jazz, rock and metal genres all utilize it.
This scale is derived from the natural minor scale, with its 7th degree raised one semitone so as to become le – ti – do – b3 – 4 – 5 – 6. Furthermore, an augmented major sixth has also been included, making this ideal for playing both piano and guitar.
C minor chord progressions often use harmonic minor scale as their basis, yet can include other minor keys as well. Therefore, you may not always know which key a song is in; however if you know other minor scales well enough you should often be able to tell when its relative key has been identified.
When creating triad chords, it is vital that you know the names and qualities of all notes from the scale being used as this will allow you to properly name and differentiate amongst triads.
To do this, first count the number of half-tones / semitones between each note in a chord. When done, referring back to the table below will allow you to identify which note interval has this amount of half-tones / semitones.
The first column/scale degree represents Ab, while D and F are two additional scale degrees. Step two entails identifying which of these triad chords contains a root/starting note which corresponds with the next scale note on your scale.
Notice how this triad has its own distinctive name compared to others: this supertonic or “i triad” uses notes C, Eb and G for its construction.
This diminished triad is defined as being “diminished” because there are less half-steps between notes than in a major triad. Therefore, its sound tends to be sharper and more discordant compared with that of other triads.
Arpeggios
Arpeggios are musical patterns, typically in the form of scales, that you can play improvised. Arpeggios can be used to play over jazz chord changes and other melodic ideas – adding depth and knowledge of guitar theory!
The C harmonic minor scale offers seven arpeggios for you to use during improvisation, ascending or descending. Be sure to play them all twelve keys of your guitar for maximum effect!
Use this scale with any dominant 7 chord or other major ii-V chord and you will create an atmospheric mixolydian b9 b13 scale which sounds exotic and haunting – like floating through space!
Music theory assigns each note in a scale with what’s known as its scale degree name. For example, the initial (first note of) the scale is known as its tonic while all subsequent ones may be either supertonic, mediant, subdominant dominant or submediant notes.
When learning a new note on the piano, it can be useful to name that note beforehand so you know what you can expect when playing it later. This is accomplished through alphabetic letters – A, B, C etc on white keys while black keys may have either flat(b) or sharp(#) accidental names depending on how it will be used later in your progression.
This step will serve to familiarize you with the notes of the C harmonic minor scale on a piano keyboard, with both treble clef and bass clef displayed clearly above so you can view each note clearly.
Be mindful to distinguish between natural minor and harmonic minor scales, noting the difference in terms of seventh scale degree height between them. One important distinction lies within harmonic minor scales – in this instance, the seventh scale degree has been raised half step.
Conversely, natural minor scale features a minor 7th note which is one semitone lower than the eighth (octave) note.
When learning the C harmonic minor scale, this difference should be carefully taken into consideration. You may initially find the sound of the seventh scale degree to be slightly dissonant; however, its sound will quickly settle. This is due to being only one half-tone away from an 8th octave note and desiring to resolve into it’s sound at once.
Applications
The C harmonic minor scale is an original musical scale with its own distinctive sound, widely utilized across genres ranging from jazz and metal music to surf rock, as well as classical pieces.
As opposed to its natural minor counterpart, which features key signatures with sharp or flat adjustments at every note on the staff, composers indicate harmonic minor scale by using both key signature and an accidental (such as sharp or natural) alongside its seventh scale degree (known as leading tone).
Due to this change, the interval between sixth and seventh scale degrees in the c harmonic minor scale is much wider than in its natural minor cousin; this gives its sound an easily recognisable characteristic when played on open strings.
Minor sounds offer an engaging alternative to major scale compositions and can add dimension and excitement to any musical composition, especially melodies and rhythms.
Harmonic minor is home to various seventh chords, such as a minor major seventh chord (im7), half-diminished seventh chords (iim7(-5)), an augmented major seventh chord (IIIaug(maj7)), minor seventh chords (ivm7) and dominant seventh chords (V7).
Seven types of seventh chords can be arranged in various ways, but you’re most likely to encounter them as three alternating minor and major seventh chords. Major and minor seventh chords share similar intervalic structures: whole steps and half steps while the augmented major seventh and diminished seventh have large jumps between their sixth and seventh scale degrees.
The combination of notes creates an indescribably exotic sound. Just listen and you’ll know for yourself. It makes an excellent accompaniment for Eastern European folk music and Jewish music styles alike.
This scale is also an effective option for improvisation and can help create unique sounds in your guitar solo. An essential scale in metal or surf rock, it allows improvising players to achieve new and interesting sounds when creating unique guitar solos.