Musical Concepts: Harmonic Minor Scale

** Note: At the end of this page is the music download of the lesson.
Please scroll to the bottom, click to open, and then continue reading.

Hi everyone,

Following my second column, here’s the same concept but this time on the Harmonic Minor scale.

Again, for the ones who didn’t read the previous column;

“My approach is to be able to name every note I play while I’m playing, its function in the chord and its musical and emotional impact. But I don’t want to think about it while I’m playing, I just want to do it, just like when I speak, I don’t spell the words in my head before it comes out of my mouth but I know what they are. I’ve been trying to develop a mechanism that would allow me to do it, and it starts with the way I practice. I train my brain as much as my fingers, to think fast and ahead of what I’m going to play.

This exercise over the Harmonic Minor scale will help you to locate all the notes and to be able to play freely everywhere on the neck, you will also have a better left hand positioning for sight reading.”

Nevertheless, if you build the Harmonic Minor scale starting on it’s fifth it becomes thec”HORMONIC MINOR OF DESTINATION” commonly called “MHD” for a “V7(b9)” chord. We use that chord when it’s destination is V7 / III and V7 / VI.

If you have not done so already, please click below to download the lesson.
4-Harm-Mim.Scale