Harmonic Minor Scale Guitar Chords - Theory With Diagrams And Charts
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2019-12-15
- 3 comments
This lesson explains how to build drop 2 and drop 3 seventh chords from the harmonic minor scale.
This action which consists in stacking notes in interval of thirds starting on each tone of a scale is commonly called "harmonization".
What is The Harmonic Minor Scale?
The harmonic minor scale is built with Root (1), second (2), minor third (b3), perfect fourth (4), perfect fifth (5), minor sixth (b6) and major seventh (7).
It can be interesting to compare it with the melodic minor scale and the Aeolian mode indeed, they have many commonalities.
C Harmonic Minor Scale | C | D | Eb | F | G | Ab | B |
Formula | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | 7 |
Intervals | W | H | W | W | H | H+W | H |
Let's start with the Aeolian mode. This is the sixth mode of the major scale, you will see that it is very similar to the harmonic minor scale.
The only one difference is the seventh that is minor in the Aeolian mode instead of being major in the harmonic minor mode.
Aeolian mode | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | b7 |
Harmonic minor scale | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | 7 |
The melodic minor scale is also very similar to the harmonic mode but it has major sixth (6) instead of a minor sixth (b6) as shown in the chart below.
Melodic minor scale | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Harmonic minor scale | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | 7 |
Chords of The Harmonic Minor Scale
When stacking thirds on each note of the harmonic minor scale we get seven different tetrad chords that are:
- minMaj7 (1 - b3 - 5 - 7)
- m7b5 aka half-diminished (1 - b3 - b5 - b7)
- Maj7#5 (1 - 3 - #5 - 7)
- min7 (1 - b3 - 5 - b7)
- 7 (1 - 3 - 5 - b7)
- Maj7 (1 - 3 - 5 - 7)
- dim7 (1 - b3 - b5 - bb7)
Degrees |
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII |
C Harmonic Minor Scale | C | D | Eb | F | G | Ab | B |
Seventh Chords | CminMaj7 | Dm7b5 | EbMaj7#5 | Fmin7 | G7 | AbMaj7 | Bdim7 |
Harmonic Minor Chord Shapes
The guitar neck diagrams below show the seven chords of the harmonic minor scale previously seen.
They allow to understand how they are organized against to each other. For this, a color code has been employed for each chord shape:
- Green Shape : minMaj7
- Brown Shape : m7b5
- Blue Shape : Maj7#5
- Red Shape : min7
- Grey Shape : dom7
- Orange Shape : Maj7
- Purple Shape : dim7
The first three diagrams represent the drop 2 chord voicing shapes from the harmonic minor scale.
Green Shape (degree I) | minMaj7 | 1 5 7 b3 |
Brown Shape (degree II) | m7b5 | 1 b5 b7 b3 |
Blue Shape (degree III) | Maj7#5 | 1 #5 7 3 |
Red Shape (degree IV) | min7 | 1 5 b7 b3 |
Grey Shape (degree V) | Dom7 | 1 5 b7 3 |
Orange Shape (degree VI) | Maj7 | 1 5 7 3 |
Purple Shape (degree VII) | dim7 | 1 b5 bb7 b3 |
Now let's see the drop 3 chord voicing shapes of the harmonic minor scale.
Green Form (degree I) | minMaj7 | 1 7 b3 5 |
Brown Form (degree II) | m7b5 | 1 b7 b3 b5 |
Blue Form (degree III) | Maj7#5 | 1 7 3 #5 |
Red Form (degree IV) | min7 | 1 b7 b3 5 |
Grey Form (degree V) | Dom7 | 1 b7 3 5 |
Orange Form (degree VI) | Maj7 | 1 7 3 5 |
Purple Form (degree VII) | dim7 | 1 bb7 b3 b5 |
Chords And Modes
This short YouTube short video below show the relationship of the chords of the C harmonic scale and its seven modes :
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guitar scales jazz modes harmonic scale harmonization of the harmonic minor scale chords
Comments
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- 1. Mixjal On 2020-01-13
hi guys :). I am looking for help for me and my girl. i am from France-
- jazz-guitar-licksOn 2020-01-13
What kind of help?
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- 2. rardquepe On 2019-12-16
i am from Italy hello. Can you help me translate? /rardor
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