So, now you know that the minor scale is related to the major
scale in that it uses the same notes but starts instead on the sixth. And you
know, from your playing, that the minor scale is used a great deal. Although in modern western music the minor
scale is considered dark, sad, lamenting, etc. earlier in western civilization
the scale was considered happy. Things
change.
The minor scale remains a very useful convention. But what you might not know is that one of the things that the minor brings is diversity
– there are a number of minor scales. Yikes! But with a little bit of explanation, you’ll
soon understand (and be able to use) the different types of minor scales.
First, there are different minors! And there are terms that can be confusing. But once you get the lay of the land, you’ll
be able to participate in those high-falutin’ music conversations with anyone!
There are the relative minor, the natural minor, the parallel
minor, the harmonic minor, and the melodic minor. First off, it’s not as complicated as it sounds.
Sort of like the Future Perfect Continuous
Conditional verb tense – it sounds terrifying but you use it
all the time (I would have been practicing…). Like last week, now, we’re just
learning the formalized rules. So, here
we go! We’ll work from C major (again, because
with no sharps or flats, it’s easy to see and write).
Relative minor. On the
harp this is the easy one. Start at the
root of the major scale and walk your way to the sixth of the scale. If you’re
lazy (and flexible), you’ll just go down three (in our example, from the C go
down to the A) and start the scale from there (of course, you can also go up to the a above and start there).
Because you’re clever, you’ve already figured out that this is the Aeolian
scale that we talked about last week. The
intervals in this scale are: W(whole), H (half), W, W, H, W, and W and the
notes of the scale are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
This is also referred to as the Natural minor.
Parallel minor. This minor scale is “parallel” because it
starts on the same note as major scale in consideration. In our C example, the parallel minor starts
on C – so you can already see that something else will have to change – we are
going to have to engage some levers. The
intervals in this scale are W, H, W, W, H, W, and W, while the notes of the
scale are: C, D, E♭, F,
G, A♭, and B♭. You’ll
see that the key signature has three flats.
Let’s think that one through.
That means that this is the relative minor of E♭!
Harmonic minor. This scale
is close to, but different from, the relative (or natural) minor. In this scale you raise the 7th up
½ step. The intervals are W, H,W, W, H, W+H, H (you can see the "big jump" going to the raised 7th). In our example working from the
C major scale, the notes become A, B, C, D, E, F, and G#. This scale allows you develop some delicious
harmonies when you use it to build up the chords for the scale.
Melodic minor. Ok, there’s
no way to dress this one up – it’s a little bit challenging to understand and
to remember because going up the scale is different than coming down!
Except when it doesn’t. It is often expressed
that for the melodic minor, on the way up the scale the 6th and 7th
are raised. But on the way down, scale goes back to “normal” (with the 6th and 7th
lowered). In this case the intervals are
W, H, W, W, W, W, and H on the way up and W, W, H, W, W, H, and W on the
way down. For the A minor scale, the
notes would be A, B, C, D, E, F#, G# on the way up and on the
way down, the scale is A, G, F, E, D, C, and B (you’ll see that it goes back to
the natural minor). Of course, some of
the weird comes because sometimes the scale is the same up and down. You might hear that this is a jazz scale –
and it is, but it is also quite present in classical music as well. In addition, you might find that sometimes
this scale is played the same in both directions. I told you it was a bit challenging.
Play with these scales.
Really give them a working through so that you can find what you like
and what you think you can use. The
diversity in these versions of the minor scale will give you plenty to work
with as you work through tunes and as you develop arrangements – you’ll be
delighted with the things you find!