Harmonic Minor

1-2-♭3-4-5-♭6-7 with the augmented-second cadence, twelve keys

Harmonic minor is natural minor with the 7th raised back up to a leading tone, so the V chord becomes a true dominant 7. C harmonic minor: C D E♭ F G A♭ B C. The interval from A♭ to B is an augmented second (three half steps) — the scale's most characteristic sound.

Over a V7 going to a minor i, harmonic minor of the i key gives you the dominant's tensions for free: ♭9, ♭13, and the natural 3 to resolve. Play D7(♭9♭13) going to Gm? That's the same seven notes as G harmonic minor. Same scale, two functions: i-chord scale on its own tonic, V-chord scale for the dominant a 4th below.

Now 2 octaves, both hands — the same pattern extended up and back with fingering marked above every note in each hand.

The intervals

1 – 2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – 7. Natural minor with raised 7.

Two uses

Over im(maj7), or as the V7♭9 scale of the relative minor.

Cm minor

Fm minor

B♭m minor

E♭m minor

A♭m minor

C♯m minor

F♯m minor

Bm minor

Em minor

Am minor

Dm minor

Gm minor

The Daily Drill

Hear the augmented second

3 minPlay C harmonic minor very slowly. Pause on A♭ → B. That augmented second (three half steps in one scale step) is the scale's identity — every other scale step is a major or minor second.
8 minCycle three keys. The black-key/white-key pattern shifts radically between flat and sharp keys; the fingering shape (1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5) is a starting point, not a rule.
4 minPlay it as a V7 scale instead: G harmonic minor over a D7 → Gm cadence. The D7 gets ♭9, ♭13, and natural 3 automatically. This is the most common minor-key cadence in standards.
3 minImprovise over a Cm vamp with harmonic minor. The natural 7 (B) creates dramatic tension; the ♭6 (A♭) keeps it firmly minor. The push-pull is the sound.

Harmonic vs. melodic minor over V7

Both give the V7 a leading-tone resolution to i. Harmonic minor produces V7(♭9, ♭13) — the "darker" cadence with both ♭9 and ♭13 (e.g., D7♭9♭13 → Gm). Melodic minor gives two flavours. Built on the dominant's 5th (A melodic minor over D7) it produces V7(♯11, 13) — the "brighter" lydian-dominant V7, happiest when the V doesn't resolve. Built a half step above the dominant's root (E♭ melodic minor over D7) it yields the fully altered V7 — the standard modern tension going into a minor i. Real playing alternates: harmonic minor or altered for tension into i, lydian dominant for non-resolving brightness. All are correct; the choice is stylistic.

The augmented second is the sound. Every flamenco line, every Yiddish folk song, every minor-key cadence in bebop — three half steps in one step.

80 bpm

Sound