Minor scale

Not to be confused with the simulated nuclear detonationMinor Scale.

Inwestern classical music theory, theminor scale refers to threescale patterns – thenatural minor scale (orAeolian mode), theharmonic minor scale, and themelodic minor scale (ascending or descending).^[1]

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f\relative c' { \clef treble \time 7/4 c4^\markup { C natural minor scale } d es f g aes bes c2 }}$

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

${\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f\relative c' { \clef treble \time 7/4 c4^\markup { C harmonic minor scale } d es f g aes b!? c2 }}$

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

${\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f\relative c' { \clef treble \time 7/4 c4^\markup { C melodic minor scale } d es f g a!? b!? c bes aes g f es d c2 }}$

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

These scales contain all three notes of aminor triad: theroot, aminor third (rather than themajor third, as in amajor triad ormajor scale), and aperfect fifth (rather than thediminished fifth, as in adiminished scale orhalf diminished scale).

Minor scale is also used to refer to other scales with this property,^[2] such as theDorian mode or theminor pentatonic scale (seeother minor scales below).

Natural minor scale

edit

Relationship to relative major

edit

Anatural minor scale (orAeolian mode) is adiatonic scale that is built by starting on the sixthdegree of itsrelative major scale. For instance, the A natural minor scale can be built by starting on the 6th degree of the C major scale:

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Because of this, the key ofA minor is called therelative minor ofC major. Every major key has a relative minor, which starts on the 6th scale degree or step. For instance, since the 6th degree ofF major is D, the relative minor of F major isD minor.

Relationship to parallel major

edit

A natural minor scale can also be constructed by altering a major scale withaccidentals. In this way, a natural minor scale is represented by the following notation:

1, 2,♭3, 4, 5,♭6,♭7, 8

This notation is based on the major scale, and represents each degree (each note in the scale) by a number, starting with the tonic (the first, lowest note of the scale). By making use of flat symbols (♭) this notation thus represents notes by how they deviate from the notes in the major scale. Because of this, we say that a number without a flat represents a major (or perfect) interval, while a number with a flat represents a minor interval. In this example, the numbers mean:

Thus, for instance, the A natural minor scale can be built by lowering the third, sixth, and seventh degrees of the A major scale by one semitone:

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Because they share the same tonic note of A, the key of A minor is called theparallel minor ofA major.

Intervals

edit

This pattern of whole and half steps characterizes the natural minor scales.

Theintervals between the notes of a natural minor scale follow the sequence below:

whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole

where "whole" stands for awhole tone (a red u-shaped curve in the figure), and "half" stands for asemitone (a red angled line in the figure).

The natural minor scale ismaximally even.

Harmonic minor scale

edit

Main article:Harmonic minor scale

Construction

edit

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Theme in harmonic minor from the opening ofSchumann'sFirst Symphony (1841)^[3]

Theharmonic minor scale (or Aeolian♮7 scale) has the same notes as the natural minor scale except that the seventh degree is raised by onesemitone, creating anaugmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees.

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Thus, a harmonic minor scale is represented by the following notation:

1, 2,♭3, 4, 5,♭6, 7, 8

A harmonic minor scale can be built by lowering the 3rd and 6th degrees of the parallel major scale by one semitone.

Because of this construction, the 7th degree of the harmonic minor scale functions as aleading tone to thetonic because it is asemitone lower than the tonic, rather than awhole tone lower than the tonic as it is in natural minor scales.

Intervals

edit

Theintervals between the notes of a harmonic minor scale follow the sequence below:

whole, half, whole, whole, half, augmented second, half

Uses

edit

While it evolved primarily as a basis for chords, the harmonic minor with its augmented second is sometimes used melodically. Instances can be found inMozart,Beethoven (for example, the finale of hisString Quartet No. 14), andSchubert (for example, in the first movement of theDeath and the Maiden Quartet). In this role, it is used while descending far more often than while ascending. A familiar example of the descending scale is heard in aRing of bells. A ring of twelve is sometimes augmented with a 5♯ and 6♭ to make a 10 note harmonic minor scale from bell 2 to bell 11 (for example, Worcester Cathedral).^[4]

TheHungarian minor scale is similar to the harmonic minor scale but with a raised 4th degree. This scale is sometimes also referred to as "Gypsy Run", or alternatively "Egyptian Minor Scale", as mentioned byMiles Davis who describes it in his autobiography as "something that I'd learned at Juilliard".^[5]

In popular music, examples of songs in harmonic minor includeKaty B's "Easy Please Me",Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative", andJazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows". The scale also had a notable influence on heavy metal, spawning a sub-genre known asneoclassical metal, with guitarists such asChuck Schuldiner,Yngwie Malmsteen,Ritchie Blackmore, andRandy Rhoads employing it in their music.^[6]

Melodic minor scale

edit

Further information:Jazz minor scale

Construction

edit

The distinctive sound of the harmonic minor scale comes from theaugmented second between its sixth and seventh scale degrees. While some composers have used this interval to advantage in melodic composition, others felt it to be an awkward leap, particularly invocal music, and preferred awhole step between these scale degrees for smooth melody writing. To eliminate the augmented second, these composers either raised the sixth degree by asemitone or lowered the seventh by a semitone.

Themelodic minor scale is formed by usingboth of these solutions. In particular, the raised sixth appears in the ascending form of the scale, while the lowered seventh appears in the descending form of the scale. Traditionally, these two forms are referred to as:

theascending melodic minor scale orjazz minor scale (also known as the Ionian♭3 or Dorian♮7): this form of the scale is also the 5th mode of theacoustic scale.
thedescending melodic minor scale: this form is identical to the natural minor scale .

The ascending and descending forms of the A melodic minor scale are shown below:

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

The ascending melodic minor scale can be notated as

1, 2,♭3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

while the descending melodic minor scale is

8,♭7,♭6, 5, 4,♭3, 2, 1

Using these notations, the two melodic minor scales can be built by altering the parallel major scale.

Intervals

edit

The intervals between the notes of an ascending melodic minor scale follow the sequence below:

whole, half, whole, whole, whole, whole, half

The intervals between the notes of a descending melodic minor scale are the same as those of a descending natural minor scale.

Uses

edit

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Theme in G melodic minor from the opening of the second concerto inVivaldi'sL'estro armonico (1711)^[3] Although the piece is in G minor, the key signature is for GDorian (one flat). By convention, in modern notation (and for tonal music written since thecommon-practice period), key signatures are typically only based on a major (Ionian mode) or minor (natural minor orAeolian mode) key, not on modes like the Dorian mode.

Composers have not been consistent in using the two forms of the melodic minor scale. Composers frequently require the lowered 7th degree found in the natural minor in order to avoid the augmented triad (III⁺) that arises in the ascending form of the scale.

Examples of the use of melodic minor inrock andpopular music includeElton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", which makes, "a nod to the common practice... by the use of F♯ [theleading tone in G minor] as the penultimate note of the finalcadence."^[7]The Beatles' "Yesterday" also partly uses the melodic minor scale.^{[citation needed]}

Other minor scales

edit

Other scales with a minor third and a perfect fifth (i.e. containing aminor triad) are also commonly referred to as minor scales.

Within thediatonic modes of the major scale, in addition to theAeolian mode (which is the natural minor scale), theDorian mode and thePhrygian mode also fall under this definition. Conversely, theLocrian mode has a minor third, but adiminished fifth (thus containing adiminished triad), and is therefore not commonly referred to as a minor scale.

TheHungarian minor scale is anotherheptatonic (7-note) scale referred to as minor.

TheJazz minor scale is a name for the melodic minor scale when only the "ascending form" is used.

Non-heptatonic scales may also be called "minor", such as theminor pentatonic scale.^[8]

Limits of terminology

edit

While any other scale containing a minor triad could be defined as a "minor scale", the terminology is less commonly used for some scales, especially those furtheroutside the western classical tradition.

The hexatonic (6-note)blues scale is similar to the minor pentatonic scale and fits the above definition. However, the flat fifth is present as a passing tone along with the perfect fifth, and the scale is often played with microtonal mixing of the major and minor thirds – thus making it harder to classify as a "major" or "minor" scale.

The twoNeapolitan scales are both "minor scales" following the above definition, but were historically referred to as the "Neapolitan Major" or "Neapolitan Minor" based rather on the quality of theirsixth degree.

Key signature

edit

In modern notation, thekey signature for music in aminor key is typically based on theaccidentals of thenatural minor scale, not on those of the harmonic or melodic minor scales. For example, a piece in E minor will have one sharp in its key signature because the E natural minor scale has one sharp (F♯).

Major and minor keys that share the samekey signature arerelative to each other. For instance, F major is the relative major of D minor since both have key signatures with one flat. Since the natural minor scale is built on the 6th degree of the major scale, the tonic of the relative minor is amajor sixth above the tonic of the major scale. For instance, B minor is the relative minor of D major because the note B is a major sixth above D. As a result, the key signatures of B minor and D major both have two sharps (F♯ and C♯).

Other notations and usage

edit

(As shown in thistemplate), When expressing the names of minor scale keys as abbreviations, the alphabet of the corresponding tonic note name can be written in lower case letters to indicate only the tonic note name. For example, when expressing the English notation ofA minor, It can be abbreviated as 'a'. Plus, when expressing the names ofmajor scale keys as abbreviations, the Roman alphabet of the corresponding tonic note is sometimes upper case to indicate only the tonic note name. For example, when expressing the English notation ofC major, It is abbreviated as 'C'.^[9]

References

edit

^Kostka, Stefan; Payne, Dorothy (2004).Tonal Harmony (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 12.ISBN 0-07-285260-7.
^Prout, Ebenezer (1889).Harmony: Its Theory and Practice, pp. 15, 74, London, Augener.
^^a ^bForte, Allen (1979).Tonal Harmony, p. 13. Third edition. Holt, Rinhart, and Winston.ISBN 0-03-020756-8.
^"Dove's Guide"
^Davis, Miles; Troupe, Quincy (1990).Miles, the Autobiography. Simon & Schuster. pp. 64.ISBN 0-671-72582-3.
^"Neo-Classical Metal Music Genre Overview | AllMusic".AllMusic. Retrieved2018-11-26.
^Stephenson, Ken (2002).What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis. Yale University Press. p. 41.ISBN 9780300128239.
^Bruce Benward and Marilyn Nadine Saker (2003),Music: In Theory and Practice, seventh edition (Boston: McGraw Hill), vol. I, p. 37.ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
^"StackExchange - Questions - Capitalization of key names (C Minor vs. c minor)". Sep 2024.