Harmonic minor

What it means

Harmonic minor is the minor scale with a raised seventh degree. The reason for this raising is harmonic, hence the name: without it the seventh degree lies a whole tone below the root, the leading tone is missing, and the dominant would be a minor sonority without pull. With it the dominant becomes a major triad and, with an added seventh, the V7, whose resolution carries the cadence.

In the notation

The raising never appears in the key signature but always as an accidental within the bar — anew with every note concerned if the bar line lies in between. In keys with flats a natural sign may be needed for it, in sharp keys occasionally a double sharp.

Musical use

As a result of the raising, an augmented second arises between the sixth and seventh degrees, a step of three semitones. Melodically it counts in classical study of composition as unwieldy, which is why melodies led upward often additionally raise the sixth degree — that is the melodic form. In many musical traditions of Eastern Europe and the Near East, by contrast, this step is not avoided but sought.

The three forms of the minor scale are therefore not three scales of equal rank but descriptions of different needs: natural minor is the pool of notes of the key, harmonic minor supplies the leading tone for the harmony, melodic minor smooths the melodic line. In practice the forms mix within a piece.

The raised seventh degree creates the leading tone that is present in major by nature and makes the dominant a major triad. This interval also shapes the sound of many folk musics, for instance in the Near East and in the Balkans.

Performance practice

In pieces in minor, check which degrees are actually raised — this stands in the score and not in the key signature. Take the leading tone close to the root. Sing the augmented second as a step and not as a leap, with the upper note as the goal. And expect no regularity: the same degree can appear raised once and unchanged once in the same piece.