This week we will expand our chord scale repertoire by learning the guitar scale harmonic minor. This special minor scale raises its seventh degree to add tension and melodic variety to melodies and chord progressions.
Practice this scale slowly with a metronome until reaching an appropriate tempo – it will develop finger independence while visualizing patterns on the fretboard.
The root note
Harmonic Minor Scale is an alternative to natural minor scale that differs in that it raises its seventh note by one semitone, creating a major seventh interval and adding tension and harmony to melodies and chords. Furthermore, unlike other minor scales it features a raised second interval to add extra layers of tension or resolution in interesting ways.
To play this scale on guitar, begin by finding its root note on your fingerboard. This can be accomplished by noting the position of each string’s root note and then looking up what minor scale positions correspond with it; for example if its location was 2nd fret F# you would see that its connection lies between 5 and 1 of an E harmonic minor scale.
Once you’ve discovered your root note, practice playing the scale ascending and descending in order to develop dexterity. Also try playing it with various interval sequences – this will help give a greater insight into its unique sound as well as how it works with chords; furthermore it will show you how this scale can be applied across genres from classical through jazz and metal music.
The second note
Harmonic minor scales feature two notes that are one major third lower than their tonic note, creating an augmented second interval between sixth and seventh degree of the scale that gives them their unique sound and makes it more melodic than natural minor scales.
The augmented second interval makes the harmonic minor scale more suitable for chord progressions than its natural minor counterpart, making it perfect for rock music, blues and other popular genres of popular music.
Start practicing the harmonic minor scale by practicing its open positions on your fretboard. These two shapes will cover two octaves of neck space and can help you access any key on your guitar.
Once you’ve mastered the open positions, move onto closed positions. These two will allow you to play any harmonic minor scale anywhere on the fretboard; however, higher frets require shifting your hand position up as soon as you reach them. Therefore, practicing gradually rather than jumping up and down quickly.
The third note
This scale boasts a distinct sound that makes it popular with players who specialize in styles like neo-classical guitar and metal music. Additionally, its tension-inducing qualities work particularly well over minor chord progressions, adding another level of tension into their music. To practice it on your guitar fretboard, begin playing ascending and descending sequences up and down its fretboard while using different fingering techniques to hear how different positions sound on its fretboard; try using tremolo picking technique for surf-like effects!
The harmonic minor scale follows the same interval pattern as melodic minor and Aeolian modes, except its seventh degree is raised by one semitone to create an augmented second interval between sixth and seventh degrees of scale; this gives its unique sound quality.
Harmonic minor is notable for the augmented second interval between its sixth and seventh notes, which serves as its leading tone. When played over minor tonic chords, its seventh note will sound unsettlingly unresolved before leading into tonic major chord directly above it – creating an interesting sense of tension and resolution while giving soloists extra drama when soloing solos.
The fourth note
F# is the fourth note in the harmonic minor scale and represents an augmented second interval, adding tension to melodies. You should try practicing your scale as frequently with this interval to develop fretboard dexterity and fretboard dexterity. Furthermore, practicing this scale across various keys will allow you to build finger dexterity as well as train your ear for picking.
The harmonic minor scale is a variant of the natural minor scale that is popularly used in classical and metal music, featuring an exotic sound due to the raised seventh degree which creates an augmented second interval and gives rise to its exotic sound. Furthermore, this scale can help harmonize minor chords for baroque style music.
The Harmonic minor scale resembles that of Phrygian scale in that its seventh degree is major instead of minor, making it useful for creating minMaj7th chords which contain major seventh intervals but minor third intervals. Furthermore, this scale can also be used to play chromatic chords.
The fifth note
Contrasting with its Aeolian mode counterpart (natural minor scale), which features a minor seventh interval, harmonic minor scale has a major seventh that creates tension within chord progressions that must be released through resolutions.
Attunement with both modes is crucial when playing music based on various genres and traditions, especially rock, pop and country styles. You’ll often come across chords composed with harmonic minor scale chords all across the fretboard in these genres and more – including jazz modal jazz, neoclassical folk metal Jewish music!
To play harmonic minor scales, simply raise the 7th note of natural minor scale by half step to produce Aeolian mode-esque interval structure with major seventh. This makes them suitable for standard minor triads but not major chords which include this additional major seventh note.
This video lesson will demonstrate how to play the E harmonic minor scale on guitar. You’ll learn how to position your fingers for this scale across the neck of your instrument and practice playing it ascending and descending order, then we’ll show how this scale works using some common minor triads before showing how you can incorporate harmonic minor into your own improvisations.
The sixth note
The sixth note of the harmonic minor scale, B6, produces a striking sound. While difficult to play, its sharp quality creates an unforgettable tone. As such, this note can add characterful soundscapes. Furthermore, B6 works wonders with chords in minor keys–particularly drop 2 and drop 3 seventh chords–by practicing harmonic minor scale on your fretboard.
The harmonic minor scale features an exotic sound resulting from its large leap between the sixth and seventh degree of its scale. This major-sounding tone is one of its main hallmarks and can add drama or tension to your music compositions.
This scale can also help create melodies and improvise over chord progressions, lending itself well to jazz, neoclassical, metal and folk styles as well as being used to increase fretboard dexterity.
To play the harmonic minor scale on guitar, begin by opening all strings, shifting your hand position so your index finger plays the second fret, middle finger third fret, and ring finger fifth fret respectively. From here, practice ascending and descending up and down fretboard. Or try shifting hand position horizontally across fretboard.
The seventh note
Harmonic minor scale’s seventh note has an unusual and menacing sound due to being raised by half-step, giving it a dark and haunting tone. Sometimes described as exotic or Middle Eastern in style, this scale has long been popular with metal players looking for ways to add something distinctive into their music.
Harmonic minor is in A, and has no flats or sharps in its scale. To play it, fretboard diagrams provide charts showing you which notes to play on each string and fret; their dots represent notes in the scale while colored circles denote its root. By studying fretboard diagrams you can learn to play this scale anywhere on the fretboard.
To practice playing the harmonic minor scale, start on the 2nd fret of the low E string (F#), playing ascendingly until reaching 14th fret G (14th fret = G). Also try practicing playing it descendingly for improved finger dexterity and once comfortable playing this scale over a backing track that uses this scale as well.