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A harmonic minor scale
A harmonic minor is A B C D E F G♯: A minor with the G raised. Hear it, see it on piano and guitar, take it as MIDI or WAV, the step and a half from F to G♯.
Mika plays the A harmonic minor scale up and back down. No improvising.Tap Hear it, or tap any note on the board.
A B C D E F G♯
The notes of the A harmonic minor scale
A B C D E F G♯
Formula: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7. Steps from note to note: 2 1 2 2 1 3 1 semitones (whole, half, whole, whole, half, one and a half, half).
Natural A minor with the seventh raised to G♯. The gap from F up to G♯ is a step and a half: the sound that gives harmonic minor away.
In Hz, from A4: A4 440.0 · B4 493.9 · C5 523.3 · D5 587.3 · E5 659.3 · F5 698.5 · G♯5 830.6.
The A harmonic minor scale on the piano
White keys: A B C D E F; black keys: G♯.
Fingering for one octave up: right hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5, left hand 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 (1 = thumb). The same fingers come back down.
The A harmonic minor scale on guitar
One position, frets 4–8, low E string first: low E: 4 5 7 8 (G♯ A B C) · A: 5 7 8 (D E F) · D: 6 7 (G♯ A) · G: 4 5 7 (B C D) · B: 5 6 (E F) · high E: 4 5 7 8 (G♯ A B C). 0 = open string.
The root A sits at fret 5 on the low E string and at fret 0 on the A string. Slide the same shape there for any other root.
The one sharp in A minor
A harmonic minor is A minor's white keys with one change, G♯. That sharp is why a piece in A minor has G♯ written in while its key signature is empty, and why the E chord in an A minor song is major. Play the F to G♯ on its own a few times; once you know that sound you will hear it in classical pieces, in flamenco and in neoclassical metal.
More scales
Harmonic minor scale G harmonic minor scale C harmonic minor scale D harmonic minor scale A minor pentatonic scale A minor pentatonic scale on guitar A minor: scale and chords
How this page works
Hear it plays the scale up and down at 100 BPM on one of four Brumm sounds. Take it gives the same notes as a MIDI file and a WAV. − and + move the root. Every note here is computed from the formula.
Sources
Scales and modes: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Piano fingerings: the standard scale-book fingerings (ABRSM scale books; Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist, part 3). Trumpet valves: the standard B♭ trumpet fingering chart (Yamaha, Bach). Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.
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