Here’s a riff I came up with that uses this jazz scale over a G7 chord: Second, use the harmonic minor based on the 4th note above the root of your dominant 7th chord.įor example, you can use your C harmonic minor over a G7 chord. You may say, “Wait! Doesn’t a dominant seventh chord contain a major triad? And aren’t we talking about a MINOR scale? How’s that going to work?”įirst, don’t use the harmonic minor scale based on the root note of your dominant seventh chord.
How To Use The Harmonic Minor Scale Over A Dominant 7th Chord However, the fact remains that you can do so much more with one scale.
For example, since the key signature of G major has one sharp (see major scales for how to find this), its relative minor, E minor, also has one sharp in its key signature. The relative major is a minor third above the tonic of the minor. Major and minor keys that share the same key signature are called relative so C major is the relative major of A minor, and C minor is the relative minor of E ♭ major. In jazz, usually only the ascending minor is used.įinding key signatures Ĭircle of fifths showing major and minor keys and their signatures In this case, composers usually use the natural minor. Using the triad of the relative major is very common, but because this is based on the third degree of the minor scale, the raised seventh degree of the harmonic scale would cause an augmented triad.
Many composers do not stick to the notes of only one of these scales when writing music. The ascending has the same upper tetrachord to the major scale, and the descending is the same as the natural minor: These two options are called the ascending melodic minor scale and descending melodic minor scale. They thought that a whole step between these two scale degrees was better for smooth melody writing, so they used the subtonic seventh, or raised the sixth scale degree. While some composers, like Mozart, have used this interval in melodic composition, other composers found it awkward. The interval between the sixth and seventh degrees of this scale (in this case F and G ♯) is an augmented second. The harmonic minor scale as a whole is sometimes called Nahawand-Hijaz in Arabic, or as Bûselik Hicaz in Turkish. The harmonic minor is also sometimes called the Mohammedan scale because its upper tetrachord is the same as the Hijaz jins, often found in Middle Eastern music. These are the diminished seventh chord (2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th degrees) and the augmented chord (the 3rd, 5th and 7th degrees). One way the harmonic minor is different to the natural minor is that it has two chords which have the same structure when inverted, so they do not belong to any key. Harmonic Minor Scale: 1 2 3 ♭ 4 5 6 ♭ 7 8įor example, in the key of A minor, the harmonic minor scale is: The harmonic minor scale is the same as the natural minor but with the seventh note raised by a semitone. If the white notes are played starting from the sixth step of that C scale, (from any A to the next A), then an A natural minor scale (the " relative minor" of C) is produced. For example, the white notes of a keyboard from one C to the next C up makes a C major scale. The natural minor scale is the same as the 6th mode (or Aeolian mode) of the major scale.