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Play the normal Dorian Scale but sharpen the 4th!! If you remember the modes well that we covered in previous articles, the name tells you what to play.įor Example, Dorian #4. The names are actually a guide as to what notes to play. Some common names are put in brackets for you. The names of these modes are again variable. So there you have it, all 7 modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale, and you can play them in any key, just start on the note you want and play the correct intervals!! If we continue this exercise (starting from each note) we can complete the following table: It is the 2nd mode of the Harmonic Minor Scale. This new scale is called Locrian ♮6 and is a Mode. If we now convert this back to the key of C we get: This gives a new scale based on the tonal center of D. The harmonic minor scale has the 7th sharpened to create a leading tone. In the same way we built all the chords in the key, we play a scale starting on each note. The natural minor scale is the equivalent of the Aeolian mode. As with other scales (such as the Major Scale) we can build modes from the Harmonic Minor Scale. It is of the utmost importance that you develop the ability to hear these relationships as second nature.In the last few articles we have been looking at the Harmonic Minor Scale and the chords that are built from it. For example if you are playing a C Ionian mode and you play an F this note should sound like the 4th degree of the key center. Play the mode over a jam track so that you hear the mode in relationship to the way you are thinking of the mode. C is the root, D is the 2nd, E is the 3rd etc.).ī. C, D, E etc.) or the degrees of the notes (i.e. Each day play the scale(s) in all 7 positionsĪ. More specifically you should do the following:ġ. Progress through the keys in the following sequence (cycle 5): When you have played all the modes in C major you want to start the process over in the key of F. So start with C Ionian then C Dorian, C Lydian etc. I recommend going through all the modes in C first so that you have an idea of the sound of each mode. If you have more than an hour to practice each day I would suggest doing one mode a day in one key. I often tell my students to organize their practicing by concentrating on one mode in one key per week. I mention some of these more advanced concepts at the end of this introduction. Once you have gone through all of these modes in all keys it's time to move on the Total Modal 2 which will give you alternate ways to play and apply scales. The Modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale OctoDecemDuncan Richardson 191 Views harmonic minor scale, music lessons, music modes, music theory In the last few articles we have been looking at the Harmonic Minor Scale and the chords that are built from it. By just introducing yourself to each mode you will become familiar with the mode and it's sound. It's very easy to get discouraged as you learn modes because there are so many. Do not try to master each mode as you go. Think of your first time through these modes as just an introduction. Modes should take up 30% of your practice time each day. For D natural minor the minor 7th is the note C, but it is C for the harmonic and melodic minor scales. The 7th scale degree of the harmonic minor is a major 7th but that interval is a minor seventh in the natural minor scale. The Harmonic Minor Mode has no avoid notes. The harmonic minor differs from the natural minor by a single note. You can find voicings for (-?7) in the previously recommended Chord Workbook for Guitar Volume One. As with the Melodic Minor, it can also be arranged in seven different modes, whose names are based on modified forms of other scales. A Harmonic Minor Mode can be superimposed over a regular minor chord. The Harmonic Minor scale can also be used for improvisation, although less often than the Major or Melodic Minor scales, because its role in music is more for creating harmonies than melodies. The Harmonic Minor is used over a minor Major 7th chord. Watch the Harmonic Minor Scale online guitar lesson by Bruce Arnold from Total Modal