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While there's just one Major Scale, we actually have a few different Minor Scales to work with.
Let's take a quick look at the Harmonic Minor and how it's used!
Here it is! As usual, take some time to play the scale from bottom to top, and back. Dig Deeper, when you're ready.
Most people describe this scale as having an Egyptian or Middle-Eastern quality to it. It gets used in movie soundtracks a lot for this reason.
It also finds use in metal, often when players are looking to add a classical feel to their riffs.
You don't need to be a metalhead to make use of this scale, though! It plays a crucial role for songs in the Minor key, and is a cornerstone of jazz improv.
Take a look at the notes of the Harmonic Minor, and compare it to the Natural Minor, as seen here.
Can you see the difference?
Only the 7th has changed! Everything else is exactly the same.
We can consider the Harmonic Minor scale to be a Natural Minor (or Aeolian Mode), with a sharp 7th.
This will help us down the line as we learn the various forms for this scale, as they will all be only one note apart from what we've already covered!
Natural Minor
Before I get started explaining where this scale is used in popular music: CLICK HERE if you don't know about Minor Diatonic Chord Progressions.
All caught up? Good.
I mentioned previously that songs in a Minor key are much less likely to be 100% diatonic. Often, this is because the songwriter wants to borrow a powerful Cadence from the Major Key. Perhaps most commonly, the V7 to I. In a Minor context, that's a V7 to i.
Have another look and notice that we can actually play a Dominant 7th chord off of the 5th note in the scale here!
That means that when a song slips out of diatonic chords and throws a V7 into a minor progression, we can apply the Harmonic Minor to the melody over that chord.
A very common use case for this is a minor 2-5-1 jazz progression, often played as: iiMin7 - V7 - iMin7. Here, we would use the Harmonic Minor only when the V7 is being played. Since it's only one note apart from the Natural Minor, this can be a good time to use a riff that accentuates that sharp 7th!
Once you've got the Harmonic Minor down, you'll have a very powerful tool in your toolbox. This is a first step outside of diatonic playing, into a world that's a lot more complex, but a lot more rewarding as well!
Be patient with yourself, and stick with it. Fluency will come in time.
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