Melodic minor: V-i and the scale is built from all 1/2 steps and whole steps (two notes are changed).Ī mnemonic device you could use is 'Please Hurry, Man'. Harmonic minor: chords go V-i but sounds eastern (One note is changed). That makes the *melodies* more pleasing to the ear. Take harmonic minor and raise the 6th too, so melodies don't sound like 'that Egyptian scale, dood!'. In short, take the pure minor and raise the 7th (change the harmony) so you get V-i. If you just take that Ab and raise it by 1/2 step, you now have a scale constructed completely from whole steps and half steps: the Melodic Minor scale. So, in playing *melodies* using that formula, they can sound a bit weird. The major scale is built completely off of whole steps and half steps, whereas Harmonic Minor has a glaring minor 3rd, from the b6 to the natural 7th giving the scale it's distinct 'Eastern' sound. We changed the *harmony* of the minor scale to get V-i resolution.īut there's bad news: in creating that V-i resolution, we neglected the scale itself. The Cm scale's *harmony* was thus changed from:Īnd this is the Harmonic Minor scale. And we would then have a pleasing V-i resolution to the Cm. However, if we take the G-7 chord (G Bb D F) and raise the third one half step to B natural, we would have a G7 chord (GBDF). The v chord is minor, a lower case Roman numeral. To go v-I in the C minor scale, does not create resolution. Melody is one note at a time, harmony is more than one note at a time.Ĭoming back to how you keep those two scales straight: in the C major scale you have V-I (G7-C) which creates a pleasing cadence (tension and resolution) for the ear. He didn't want to hear the complicated lick I wrote, he wanted to hear the chords for that section. "Just play the chords in that section, so I can hear the harmony", the bass player replied. I wrote a tune last year with a complicated 16th note guitar figure, and when I recorded a demo into the 'voice memos' app on my phone, I asked my band how they wanted me to play it. " The Beatles have great harmonies", implies that one guy knew if he was singing C-D-E, another guy could sing E-F-G and it would sound cool. Harmony can get a little more complicated. Whether it's "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Stairway to Heaven", it's the melody lines that go on repeat in our heads. Without rhythm, we would just have static noise. The rhythm is the glue that holds everything together. Music has only three aspects: melody, harmony, and rhythm. It's a very pleasing cadence, I immediately felt a sense of deja vu when my first guitar teacher had me play the two chords together. The basis of all western music, from Bach to the Beatles, or as they say "from Abba to Zappa" is the V-I resolution. I struggled to get my head wrapped around these exotic scales, and I'm hoping that the following line of reasoning can help you grasp the concept in a much more expeditious manner.īefore we dive into music theory land, let's just make sure a few things are clear. They also sounded strange compared to the 12 bar format of 3 dominant 7th chords I was used to playing on. The fingerings were counter-intuitive relative to my blues/rock upbringing.
When I was discovering how to play 'out', one of the first things I learned was using the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales. One is about changing the harmony of the minor scale, the other one is about the melodies it creates.