Introduction

Welcome back to AP Music Theory! We are now on to Chapter 2: Music Fundamentals II. This (along with the first chapter) are usually the hardest chapters for students who are new to music due to the sheer amount of content in each topic. But not to fret! We will break down each concept and provide plenty of practice. For those who are already familiar with music, it's still recommended to read through each article, because there may be some concepts you haven't seen before (e.g. terraced dynamics!). So without further ado, let's start Chapter 2!

Minor Scales: Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic

In this article, we'll go over the three forms of the minor scale: natural, harmonic, and melodic. Let's get into it!

What is the Natural Minor Scale?

To review, a scale is simply a succession of pitches that serve as a framework for creating melodies and harmonies. These pitches can be arranged in an ascending or descending order. Remember how we made a major scale with the following steps:

Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half

Well, what would happen if we change these steps? We can make a ton of different scales! But let's consider this one:

Whole‑Half‑Whole‑Whole‑Half‑Whole‑Whole

This is the formula for a minor scale. Particularly, it is the natural minor scale. As with the major scale, we name minor scales based on the first note, the tonic, of the scale. Let's build the F natural minor scale:

Thus, the F major scale is: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F

Notice how this scale is the exact same as the major scale, but it has a flattened third, flattened sixth, and flattened seventh. This is true for all natural minor scales! 

We can write it as: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

The scale degrees and their names are the exact same as the major scale, with one exception. The seventh scale degree, called the leading tone in a major scale, is instead called the subtonic. Why do you think this is?

Well, the answer lies in the fact that leading tones "leads" into the tonic because of the half step relationship between the two. In the natural minor scale, what is the relationship between the seventh and the tonic? It's a whole step! Thus, we need to call it by a different name, since the seventh doesn't lead into the tonic.

So what exactly defines a minor scale? Specifically, it is the flattened third scale degree (A to A-flat). The flattened sixth and seventh of the scale is what makes it a natural minor scale, a specific type of minor scale. There are two other types of minor scales that you need to be familiar with: the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales.

Let's see a few examples that uses the natural minor scale.

Take a look at this piece and see how it sounds like the "traditional" version of minor.

In this example, you can see that the F and Eb are both flattened versions of the scale degrees from G major (F-sharp and E-natural). Thus, this excerpt is in G natural minor.

What is the Harmonic Minor Scale?

Pretty simply, the harmonic minor scale is just the natural minor but with a natural seventh! What does this mean in terms of the formula?

Whole – Half – Whole – Whole – Half – Whole+Half – Half

In terms of our scale degree formula (in relation to the major scale), we get:

1-2-b3-4-5-b6-7

The F harmonic minor scale would then be: F G Ab Bb C Db E F

Notice that, as with all minor scales, the third scale degree is still flattened.

What do you think we should call the seventh scale degree now? That's right! We're back to the leading tone, because the natural seventh will lead into the tonic again.

Let's take a look at some examples of the harmonic minor scale:

Listen for the leading tone in the chords prior to the tonic chords.

As you can see, the B's are natural and the A's are flat. In other words, in relation to C Major, the seventh is natural (making it a leading tone) and the sixth is flattened.

What is the Melodic Minor Scale?

The melodic minor scale is a bit different than the other two, because it only applies to the ascending version of the scale. Regarding the descending version of the scale, the melodic minor is the same as the natural minor scale. Here's the formula for the ascending melodic minor scale:

Whole‑Half‑Whole‑Whole‑Whole‑Whole‑Half

In terms of our scale degree formula (in relation to the major scale), we get:

1 2 b3 4 5 6 7

So, the F ascending melodic minor scale is: F G Ab Bb C D E F

The F descending melodic minor scale is: F Eb Db C Bb Ab G F

Here are some examples of the melodic minor scale in context:

Carol of the Bells uses the natural minor scale (with b6 and b7 scale degrees) in the majority of the song, but to build tension, it uses the melodic minor scale on the words "Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas." Work out the scale degrees on the piano.

Here's an example of the melodic minor scale in notated music:

As you can see, sometimes composers just ignored the idea of ascending/descending, and instead used the ascending version of the scale in descending contexts! Remember, this is music theory we are talking about, which often has rules that are broken in the field of music composition. For the AP Exam, you'll be expected to know the melodic minor scale as solely ascending.

Practice

Write out the following scales in an octave of your choice:

Next, compose an 8 bar melody in natural minor. Now transform it into harmonic minor. Now to melodic minor. Compare how it sounds in each of the three keys. Which is your favorite, and why? Which do you like the least?

Do the same in 2-voice counterpoint.

Now, listen to the following audio examples and identify which measures in each use natural, harmonic, and melodic minor. Remember, one excerpt could use multiple keys.

Answer:

Answer:

Finally, identify which version of minor each of the following pieces use. Note that all are in concert pitch.

Answers:
A. F Harmonic Minor (Note the D natural is a note that is not in the key of descending melodic minor.)
B. B Harmonic Minor
C. B Natural Minor