HARMONIC MINOR SCALES
This type of minor scale are called Harmonic Minor Scales and they are different to Natural Minor Scales in that the sharps and flats don't follow the same pattern as the major scales.
So whereas C Major scale is all natural notes C D E F G A B C and so is the related A Natural minor scale A B C D E F G A, the scale of A Harmonic Minor is A B C D E F G Sharp A so the seventh note is higher in pitch by one semitone.
The basic pattern for this type of minor scale is Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone+Semitone Semitone.
This scale is written in the key of the Natural Minor scale. So if A Natural Minor has a key signature with no sharps or flats then so does A Harmonic Minor. However since the G's are Sharp then they will have a sharp accidental next to them.
Here are all the Harmonic Minor Scales written out with all the sharps and flats as accidentals and also how they would appear written out in their key signature.
So whereas C Major scale is all natural notes C D E F G A B C and so is the related A Natural minor scale A B C D E F G A, the scale of A Harmonic Minor is A B C D E F G Sharp A so the seventh note is higher in pitch by one semitone.
The basic pattern for this type of minor scale is Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone+Semitone Semitone.
This scale is written in the key of the Natural Minor scale. So if A Natural Minor has a key signature with no sharps or flats then so does A Harmonic Minor. However since the G's are Sharp then they will have a sharp accidental next to them.
Here are all the Harmonic Minor Scales written out with all the sharps and flats as accidentals and also how they would appear written out in their key signature.
A HARMONIC MINOR
This is the scale written out with accidentals. For A Harmonic Minor the G's are sharp.
Because the key signature for A Minor is all natural notes when you write the scale in its key signature it doesn't look any different. However, this is the only minor scale for which this is true.
B FLAT HARMONIC MINOR
This is the scale written out with accidentals, B Flat, D Flat, E Flat and G Flat.
Here is the scale written in its proper key signature of 5 flats. Because the key signature indicates that the A's should be flat but in the Harmonic Minor Scale they are naturals, the A's have a natural sign in front of them.
B HARMONIC MINOR
This is the scale of B Harmonic Minor written out with accidentals. They are F Sharp, C Sharp and A Sharp.
The key of B Minor is 2 sharps - just F Sharp and C Sharp - so when the above scale is put in to the key signature it is necessary to have a sharp sign in front of the A's to show that they too are to be played sharp.
C HARMONIC MINOR
Here is the scale of C Harmonic Minor written out with accidentals - in this case E Flat and A Flat.
Because in the key of C Minor their would normally be expected to be 3 flats when the scale of C Harmonic Minor is written out in its key signature the B's are prefixed by a natural sign to show that the B's are natural and not flat.
C SHARP HARMONIC MINOR
The scale of C Sharp Harmonic Minor has 4 sharps, F Sharp, C Sharp, G Sharp and D Sharp as written out here.
When written out in the key signature of 4 sharps the C natural which is the seventh note of the scale is preceded by a natural sign to show this.
D HARMONIC MINOR
D Harmonic Minor Scale - as written out here with accidentals - has 2 flat notes, B Flat and D Flat.
When written in its key of one flat only the B is flattened by the key signature so there is a flat sign before the D to show that this is also flat.
E FLAT HARMONIC MINOR
Here is the scale of E Flat Harmonic Minor written out with accidentals. Almost all the note are flat except F and D which remain natural.
Written out in the tricky key signature of 6 flats it is necessary to show that the D's are natural by use of a natural sign preceding the note.
E HARMONIC MINOR
E Harmonic Minor Scale, written out here with accidentals has 2 sharps, F Sharp and D Sharp.
Written out in its key signature which only makes the F Sharp there is a sharp sign in front of the D to indicate this too is sharp.
F HARMONIC MINOR
F Harmonic Minor Scale - shown here written out with accidentals - has 3 flats, B flat, A flat and D Flat.
Looking at the 4 flat key signature for F Minor you would expect the E's to be flat as well, but since they are not the E's are preceded by a natural sign.
F SHARP HARMONIC MINOR
Here is F Sharp Harmonic Minor written out with accidentals which are F Sharp, C Sharp and G Sharp
Written out in it's 3 sharp key signature the seventh note of the scale which is F natural has a natural sign to indicate this in front of it. Since the following note in the bar would also be natural as a result but it is in fact F Sharp the 8th note also has an accidental, a sharp sign, in front of it.
G HARMONIC MINOR
G Harmonic Minor - written out here with accidentals - has 3 flats, B flat, E Flat and G Flat.
When G Harmonic Minor is written out in its key signature which only has 2 flats, B Flat and E Flat, the G's have a flat sign in front of them to indicate that the G's are flat not natural.
G SHARP HARMONIC MINOR
Here is G Sharp Harmonic Minor written out with accidentals. There are 4 sharps, C Sharp, G Sharp, D Sharp and A Sharp.
When G Sharp Harmonic Minor is written in its key signature of 5 sharps the seventh note of the scale G is preceded by a natural sign to show this is a natural not sharp note. When the eighth note is written in the same bar it then also needs an accidental, this time a sharp sign, to show it is G Sharp.
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