The Minor Scales
Minor-key music commonly uses three related scale forms. Natural minor supplies the basic notes. Harmonic minor raises degree 7 to create a leading tone. Melodic minor can also raise degree 6 to smooth the melodic gap. Follow the interactive lesson below to learn more.
Compare the three minor scales from A
There are three minor scales, and they differ by one note each.
What you just learned
- Lower the third
Lower the third, go minor
Move E down one half step to E♭. Only that note changes, and the whole scale sounds darker.
E → E♭ · ♭3Read the full answer ↓ - Lower two more
Three lowered notes, natural minor
Lower A to A♭ and B to B♭ too. C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C is natural minor.
♭3 ♭6 ♭7 = natural minorRead the full answer ↓ - Raise them back
Raise the seventh, harmonic minor
Raise B♭ back up to B and leave E♭ and A♭ alone. That is harmonic minor.
♭3 ♭6 = harmonic minorRead the full answer ↓ - Raise them back
Harmonic minor has a gap
A♭ to B spans three half steps. No other step between neighbouring degrees is that wide.
A♭ B = 3 half stepsRead the full answer ↓ - Raise them back
Melodic minor keeps only ♭3
Raise A♭ back to A as well. Going up, only the third is still lowered.
♭3 = melodic minorRead the full answer ↓ - Raise them back
The scale makes its chord minor
Build a chord on degrees 1, 3 and 5. The lowered third makes C E♭ G minor by itself.
C E♭ G = minorRead the full answer ↓
Where to go from here
Every part of the lesson, answered in full
Open any question to read the full answer.
What is the natural minor scale?
A natural minor contains:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A
Its formula compared with the major scale is:
1, 2, flat 3, 4, 5, flat 6, flat 7
The flat 3 gives the scale its minor third above the root. Degrees 6 and 7 are also one semitone lower than in the parallel major scale.
Its step pattern is whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. The half steps fall between degrees 2-3 and 5-6.
Why are there three forms of minor?
Natural minor places degree 7 a whole step below the tonic. In A natural minor, G to A is a whole step.
That distance can make the move back to A less directed than the B-to-C leading-tone motion in C major. Composers often raise G to G sharp when they want a stronger pull into A.
Raising degree 7 changes both melody and harmony. It creates the leading tone G sharp and turns the chord on degree 5 from E minor into E major or E7. E7 contains G sharp and leads strongly to A minor.
This produces harmonic minor. The new gap between F and G sharp is three semitones, an augmented second. Melodic minor offers one way to smooth that melodic leap by raising F as well.
What is the harmonic minor scale?
A harmonic minor contains:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G sharp, A
Its formula is:
1, 2, flat 3, 4, 5, flat 6, 7
Only degree 7 changes from natural minor. The minor third C remains, so the scale and tonic chord still belong to the minor family.
The name harmonic minor points to its harmonic purpose. Raising degree 7 creates a major V chord and diminished leading-tone chord, both of which strengthen motion toward the tonic.
The augmented second from F to G sharp is also a recognizable melodic sound. It is a result of the scale structure, not a rule that every minor melody must emphasize.
What is the melodic minor scale?
Classical melodic minor raises degrees 6 and 7 while ascending:
A, B, C, D, E, F sharp, G sharp, A
Its ascending formula is:
1, 2, flat 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
The raised F sharp removes the augmented second between degrees 6 and 7. Traditional textbook practice commonly returns to natural minor while descending: A, G, F, E, D, C, B, A.
Real music is more flexible than the exercise. Composers choose raised or lowered degrees 6 and 7 according to melody and harmony, in either direction.
In jazz theory, melodic minor usually means the ascending form used both upward and downward. Its modes and chord-scale uses form a separate system.
Do minor-key songs choose only one form?
Usually no. The three forms are ways of describing common note choices inside one minor key.
A melody in A minor may use G natural over an Am or G chord, then use G sharp when E7 leads back to Am. It may use F sharp in an ascending line and F natural elsewhere.
The key remains A minor because A functions as the tonic and the tonic chord is minor. Changing degrees 6 and 7 does not require three separate key signatures or three unrelated keys.
Think of minor as a flexible collection with stable core notes and variable upper degrees. Degrees 1, 2, flat 3, 4 and 5 remain consistent; 6 and 7 respond to the musical job.
What is the difference between relative and parallel minor?
A minor is the relative minor of C major. The two keys share the same key signature and natural-note collection, but they have different tonics.
C major centers on C and uses C major as its tonic chord. A minor centers on A and uses A minor as its tonic chord.
C minor is the parallel minor of C major. Both have C as tonic, but C minor lowers degrees 3, 6 and 7 in its natural form: C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat.
Relative compares shared notes. Parallel compares the same tonic. Keeping those two relationships separate prevents much of the usual confusion around minor scales.
Which chords come from natural minor?
Build triads from A natural minor and you get:
- i: A minor | A-C-E
- ii diminished: B diminished | B-D-F
- III: C major | C-E-G
- iv: D minor | D-F-A
- v: E minor | E-G-B
- VI: F major | F-A-C
- VII: G major | G-B-D
The pattern is minor, diminished, major, minor, minor, major, major.
Raise G to G sharp and the v chord becomes E major, the V chord. Add D and it becomes E7. That dominant harmony is one of the main practical reasons harmonic minor appears inside minor-key music.
How do the three forms sound different?
Keep an A drone underneath all three.
Natural minor contains G natural, a whole step below A. Listen to its smoother, less directed approach to the tonic.
Harmonic minor changes G to G sharp. Play G sharp-A slowly and hear the half-step pull. Then play F-G sharp to hear the augmented second created lower in the scale.
Melodic minor raises F to F sharp as well. The upper line E-F sharp-G sharp-A now moves by whole step, whole step, half step.
Describe the note changes first. Words such as dark, dramatic or smooth can support what you hear, but the changed scale degrees explain why the versions differ.
How should you practice them?
Start with A natural minor and name every degree. Then change only G to G sharp for harmonic minor. Finally change F to F sharp for melodic minor.
Play each version upward and downward over the same A drone. Follow that with the chords Am-E7-Am so the raised seventh has a harmonic purpose.
Repeat from D minor. Natural minor uses B flat and C; harmonic minor raises C to C sharp; melodic minor also raises B flat to B natural. Building from a second root checks whether you understand the formulas.