53. The Harmonic Minor Scale and the Augmented Interval

Toward Learning a New Scale

This time, let's go a little deeper into the new scale that appeared in Lessons 51 and 52.

The following content is also essential, so please review it.

The Harmonic Minor Scale

This new scale was created by making the seventh note the leading tone (7), which has the role of leading to the tonic a half step above.

Now let's look at the name of this new scale.

This scale is called the "harmonic minor scale."
In Japanese, the (natural) minor scale is called the (shizenteki) tan-onkai, literally the "natural" minor scale.
Perhaps that is because, like the major scale, it was born "naturally" out of human perception.

The (harmonic) minor scale is called the (waseiteki) tan-onkai, literally the "harmonic" minor scale.
This name relates to the fifth chord (= V, V7), containing the leading tone and the tritone, that is formed when you build diatonic chords from the harmonic minor scale.

*Since all of these are chords built on the tonic, subdominant and dominant, they are sometimes written using only T, SD (S) and D.

As a result, within songs with a sad or cool mood, we could get the same kind of tension and flow from instability to stability (= a strong sense of resolution) as in major.

• Key = C minor

Im → V → Im / Cm → G → Cm

Im → V7 → Im / Cm → G7 → Cm

Strengthening this functional, "harmonic" sense of cadence, with an awareness of function (functional harmony), is said to be the origin of the artificially created (harmonic) minor scale.
As the meaning of "harmonic" ("of harmony, harmonious") suggests, you can think of it as having been created to make the key clear and produce a dominant, strong dominant chord.

Scale Degrees of Harmonic Minor

Let's check the scale degrees of the scales that have appeared so far.
The advantage of learning them by numbers is that once you know all the major scales, you can arrive at the scale you want just by changing notes according to those numbers.

If we number the major scale as
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)

then
the natural minor scale is
1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 (8)

Taking the major scale numbers as the basis, note that in the harmonic minor scale, ♭7 is raised a half step and returns to 7 (it is not "#7").

As in the first image, it is 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7 (8).

The Problem with the Harmonic Minor Scale

So far we have learned two types of minor scale.
Before learning the remaining one, let's look at the problem with the harmonic minor scale.

*This is not a discussion of a scale being unusable because it has many problems, or of which one is superior; today each is used as appropriate.
There are also songs that use the "movement, interval" introduced below.

The problem with the natural minor scale was that it has no leading tone, which leads to the tonic a half step above, so its resolution is weak.
So what is the problem with the harmonic minor scale?

With a phrase like this, you don't notice any particular problem.
In Lesson 51, we said, "The newly created scale has a distinctive atmosphere between ♭6 and 7."
Let's listen again while keeping this in mind.

• C harmonic minor scale

C D E♭ F G A♭ B (C) / 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7 (8)

You can feel an ethnic, Arabic atmosphere between ♭6 and 7.
In fact, Middle Eastern music has a musical term, "maqam," and movement in this interval is said to be important, but in general Western music it apparently wasn't considered a very good movement.

This is caused by the "augmented 2nd" interval, which did not exist in the scales we have seen so far.

C harmonic minor scale

For now, it's fine just to be aware that "this part certainly has an ethnic atmosphere, and there's an interval that didn't exist in the previous scales."
Next time, we will return to how to use minor diatonic chords.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the difference between the harmonic minor scale and the natural minor scale?

The natural minor scale is 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7, while in the harmonic minor scale the seventh note is raised a half step, giving 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7. This change creates a leading tone and gives a strong sense of resolution.

Q2. Why is it called "harmonic"?

Because, from the standpoint of functional harmony, it is a scale that was artificially created to strengthen the dominant function and make the tonality clear. Diatonic chords built from this scale bring a strong harmonic sense of cadence.

Q3. How can I use the augmented 2nd in DTM production?

The ethnic, Middle Eastern atmosphere created by the augmented 2nd is effective for expressing particular genres and moods. Consciously using this unique interval according to the intent of your song expands your range of expression.