HARMONIC MINOR – ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

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Melodies

Chords

Connecting Modes

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Chord Progressions

Picardy 3rd

Secondary Dominants

Secondary Leading Tones

soloing

Songwriting

Killer Licks

Joe Stump

CONNECTIN

CONNECTING MODES

USE 8TH NOTE PATTERNS

USE TRIPLETS

REMEMBER THAT MELODY IS KING.

NEXT KEY

A Harmonic Minor. This is a very popular key for guitar players due to the fact that the A Natural Minor scale has no sharps or flats. The A harmonic minor scale has only 1 # – (G#). The scale degrees for this scale are A B C D E F G#. The chords are Am Bo C+ Dm E F G#o.

The Bb Harmonic Minor Scale is as following: Bb C Db Eb F Gb A. The chords are Bbm Co Db+ Ebm F Gb Ao.

1473 6251 – This is an easy way to remember the circle of 4ths progressions. Use the first chord then the fourth. Then four chords up the scale is the 7th then four up from the 7th is the 3rd. Then comes the 6th chord, 2nd, 5th and then the 1st.

More Progressions:

i iv V VI V i

iio7 V i iio V7 i

i V VI i III+ VI iio7 V7 i

i VI iio7 V VI viio7 i

i iv viio7 III+ VI iio7 V i

i iio7 III+ iv

i viio7 VI V

The B Harmonic Minor Scale is B C# D E F# G A# and the chords are Bm C#o D+ Em F# G A#o.

The C Harmonic Minor Scale is C D Eb F G Ab B and the chords are Cm Do Eb+ Fm G Ab Bo.

The C# Harmonic Minor Scale is C# D# E F# G# A B# and the chords are C#m D#o E+ F#m G# A B#o.

The D Harmonic Minor Scale is D E F G A Bb C# and the chords are Dm Eo F+ Gm A Bb C#o.

The Eb Harmonic Minor Scale is Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb D and the chords are Ebm Fo Gb+ Abm Bb Cb Do.

The E Harmonic Minor Scale is E F# G Am B C D# and the chords are Em F#o G+ Am B C D#o.

The F Harmonic Minor Scale is F G Ab Bb C Db E and the chords are Fm Go Ab+ Bbm C Db Eo.

The F# Harmonic Minor Scale is F# G# A B C# D E# and the chords are F#m G#o A+ Bm C# D E#o.

The G Harmonic Minor Scale is G A Bb C D Eb F# and the chords are Gm Ao Bb+ Cm D Eb F#o.

Lets take some progressions now and borrow some chords from other keys. We are going to borrow some from the Major Scale, the Natural Minor Scale and the Melodic Minor Scale.

PROGRESSIONS WITH BORROWED CHORDS:

i ii V7 i

The borrowed chord here is the ii. I borrowed it from the melodic minor scale or the major scale. Its the same chord in both of those scales. It would look something like this in Bb Harmonic Minor. Bbm Cm F7 Bbm. The Cm comes from the Bb Major Scale or the Bb Melodic Minor Scale.

Take a look at this melody in Em making use of the Melodic Minor Scale…

Lets take another progression.

i IV iio7 vio7 V

Here we borrowed the IV chord from the Melodic Minor Scale. So the progression becomes Bbm Eb Co7 Gbo7 F.

Lets borrow the iii chord from the Major Scale for this next one. i iv III iio7 V7 i. We now have Bbm Ebm Dm Co7 F7 Bbm.

Try these progressions out on your guitar. Record them and improvise over them. You now have pretty cool progressions. Not that the other ones strictly in the key aren’t cool. Its just that these are less common. And if this is the sound you are going for, then you will have lots and lots of fun borrowing chords from other keys.

Chm

Dhm

Ehm

Fhm

etc…

LETS TRY SOME MODULATION NOW

Although you dont have to, you should establish the key before modulating so the listener knows what key you are in. For example, you want to use the V7 to i cadence in the key you are in before you move on to the modulation.

Try this out on your guitar for a moment. Play these chords: Bm Em D+ Em F#o G Bm Em. In the progression the key was not established so it really doesn’t sound as good as it could sound if you would have established the key.

The progression starts out in Bm then when it hits Em for the second time it then goes into F#o which is part of Em. Then comes the G Bm and Em. Which are all part of both keys so its unclear what went on here. Although the progression may sound good to you, try this next one out to see the difference.

Bm Em F#7 Bm Em F#o G+ Am B7 Em

In the above progression we solidified (established the key of Bm through the V7 i cadence. In this case being the F#7 to the Bm. This tells the listener that we are in the key of Bm.

We then go up to the 4th chord of the key and use it as a pivot chord to go into the key of Em for the rest of the progression.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF STARTING OUT IN B MINOR, THEN MODULATING INTO E MINOR AND THEN COMING OUT OF E MINOR BACK INTO B MINOR.

Bm Em F#7 Bm Em F#o B7 Em G F# F#7 Bm.

Bm Em F#7 Bm = Key of Bm

Em F#o B7 Em = Key of Em

G F# F#7 Bm = Key of Bm

So there you have it. You can go into and out of keys as you please.

SECONDARY LEADING TONE CHORDS. ANOTHER WAY TO MODULATE.

A secondary leading tone is a tone that leads into the i chord of a NEW key. Each key has a leading tone.

For example, the leading tone in A Harmonic Minor is G#. Its the 7th tone in the key. THis holds true for all the keys. All 12 harmonic minor keys have leading tones.

in the key of B-flat harmonic minor key is the leading tone. In the key of B harmonic minor the leading tone is A#.

In the key of C harmonic minor the leading tone is B. Why? Because its a half step away from C. Example: C D Eb F G Ab B C.

Lets keep going with the keys for a moment here so you can fully understand before we move on.

In Db the leading tone is…C. Again, its the leading tone because its a half step below the key. Its a half step below Db.

In D harmonic minor the leading tone is C#.

In Eb Harmonic Minor the leading tone would be D. The D wants to resolve up a half step into Eb. (The i chord)

In E Harmonic Minor the leading tone is D#.

In F Harmonic Minor the leading tone is E.

In F# Harmonic Minor the leading tone is F.

In G Harmonic Minor the leading tone is F#.

And in G# Harmonic Minor the leading tone is G.

THE V CHORD AND CADENCES.

The V chord is the Dominant chord of the key. And it contains the leading tone. This is why the V – i or V – I is the strongest cadence. Think of a cadence as a temporary or permanent ending to a section of a piece of music or the actual end of the piece.

A cadence can happen multiple times within a piece of music. There is no limit to the amount of cadences you can use in a piece of music but you want to be tasteful and use it only in the soecial parts of the piece where you want a resolution.

This means you are either going to start a new section or you are going to finalize the piece.

Music is a journey. It is tension and resolution and tension and resolution again and again. The more you learn to manipulate tension and release of the tension the more you will take the listener on a journey.

Modern day songs that you hear on the radio dont really use cadences. If at all. Some do but a lot of them dont. I wonder if they know what they even are.

Anyway, learn to use cadences in the proper way and you will have a tool in hour arsenal that aot of songwriters dont have.

Now that we got leading tones and cadences out if the way we will talk about the secondary leading tone and how you can manipulate a key to take it even further into greatness per se.

Lets say you have Am and E7 back to Am. That is a cadence right there because the leading tone [led] you into the one chord.

Well, you can have many other leading tones in a key by simply using the Diminished seventh chord.

The diminished seventh chord can be used as a modulatory device and can be placed before any other chord in a key except another diminished chord.

LETS DO SOME EXAMPLES:

i viio7/iv iv V7 i.

In the above progression we used let’s say we are in the key of C minor we used C minor then the diminished seventh chord of the fourth cord in C minor which is E diminished seventh. Then we went to the F minor so the E diminished seventh chord is the seventh chord Of the key of F minor.

The E diminished seventh cord contains deleting tone of F minor. So in this progression there are two leading tones (1 leading tone – the leading tone of the key and 1 secondary leading tone – the leading tone going into the iv chord) …the E into the Fm and the B into the Cm.

What happened here is that we modulated for a moment. We could’ve stayed in the key of F minor but we didnt. After the Fm we went up to the V7 chord of Cm which is G7. Inside the G7 is the B note. (B is a half step away from C).

LETS KEEP GOING WITH THIS SAME PROGRESSION AND WE’LL ADD SOME CHORDS.

i viio7/iv iv V7 i – notice the V7 to i cadence here.

i viio7/iv iv V7 i viio7/VI VI viio7/ii ii V V7 i

Woah what a progression right. 12 chords in all. When was the last time you heard 12 chords in a song on the radio. Not a whole lot, if at all.

We have 3 leading tones aka (2 secondary leading tones and the leading tone of the key).

As in the other progression we have the leading tone of C minor and then the leading tone of F minor. But then we go into the sixth chord and we have the leading tone of the 6th chord and then we go into the 2 chord of melodic minor.

This chord has another leading tone so in actuality there are four leading tones in this progression one leading tone of the key and three secondary leading tones making this progression truly one of its kind.

This type of stuff comes from the romantic era and maybe even from the common practice period. Using these chords and these cadences will give you a classical sound.

Use them at will and use them when you are practicing writing progressions you never know what you’re going to come across and you may fall in love with it.

You do not whatsoever have to use a cadence or a secondary leading tone in a key or a progression, it is just a music theory tool to help you convey the emotion that you want to express.

EXAMPLES FROM BEETHOVEN AND OTHER GREAT CLASSICAL COMPOSERS.

Notice how the V chord is used pretty much right away to get a cadence. What they are doing is initially causing tension and then releasing the listener right away. And why you might ask? Its because it is the strongest way to convey a journey.

Tension and release – tension and release. You could however, prolong the tension as long as you want as in the piece “Tristan and Isolde,” or you can prolong the cadence as well. You can prolong the cadence by using V – I or V – i multiple cadences before you come to the final cadence or final chord which you can also prolong.

You can prolong the V7 chord for a few measures or more to get the most bang for your buck.

Do you always want the most bang for your buck. No not always. It depends. It depends on you. It depends on what you want to express and what type of emotion you want to convey to the audience.

Lets talk about secondary dominants for a moment.

SECONDARY DOMINANTS. ANOTHER WAY TO MODULATE AND ESTABLISH KEYS. OR NOT.

A secondary dominant chord is a chord not found in the key. A key already has a dominant chord in it. The V chord. You can add a 7th to it and make it a V7 dominant chord. You can add a 9th, a flat 9th, a flat 5th, a sharp fifth, a b13 ????? to a dominant chord.

This can get really cool and interesting. For now lets focus on what a secondary dominant is.

You can insert a secondary dominant chord before any chord of a key except a diminished chord. It can be a V or a V7 or any kind of dominant chord.

You can have a V of III+, a V of iv, a V of V, and a V of VI in a Harmonic Minor Key.

Here are some examples:

A HARMONIC MINOR

Am C7 F G7 C+ A7 Dm B7 E. Try playing this progression and see what you do or don’t like about it. Does it have too many dominant chords in there or does it sound amazing to you? If it doesn’t sound amazing you should keep trying different progressions until it does. Maybe you like zero secondary dominants in your progressions or maybe you like a secondary leading tone chord in there.

LETS GO INTO B FLAT HARMONIC MINOR:

Bbm C7 F7 Bbm also written as i V7/V V7 i.

In this progression here we have the i chord and we right away jump into the V7 of V with the C7. C7 is the Dominant chord of F. Right after that chord we use the Dominant 7th chord of Bb Harmonic Minor – F7.

Really easy short progression to play. If you have never used these chords before then you have a brand new sound that introduces a lot of tension and release.

B HARMONIC MINOR

Bm B7 Em E F#7 Bm – i V7/iv IV V7 i

Here we use the dominant of the iv chord Em. Then I use a variant quality chord (E) and continue into the dominant 7th of Bm – F#7.

A Variant Quality chord is a chord borrowed from the Melodic Minor Scale. In this case it would be E.

C HARMONIC MINOR PROGRESSIONS

i V/VI V7 i

Cm Eb Ab G7 Cm

i V/V V i iio7 III+ V7/iv iv V7/V V V7 i

Cm D G Cm Do7 Eb+ C7 Fm D7 Cm G G7 Cm

i VI iio7 V i V7/V V7 i

Cm Ab Do7 G Cm D7 G7 Cm

i viio7 i iio7 V i V7/VI Vi V7 i

Cm Bo7 Cm Do7 G Cm Eb7 Ab Abm G7 Cm

So above we have several progressions utilizing secondary dominant chords. You can hear this sound in the Baroque era, Romantic era and all over jazz.

You also hear it in neoclassical metal. Guys like Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Stump and George Bellas. Countless other players have used this technique of songwriting as well.

I guess when you have the tools, you use them. Learn to use them all and you will have an arsenal in your toolbox like no other. Granted, you have to like this sound. But you wouldn’t be reading this book if you didn’t have an interest in the Harmonic Minor Scale sound, or secondary dominants or secondary leading tone chords.

LETS MOVE ON TO C# HARMONIC MINOR.

C#m D#o7 G# C#m D#7 G#7 C#m

Here we use the V7/V chord again when we use the D#7.

C#m Amaj7 B7 E+ F#m7 C#m. Here we use the V of the III+ chord which is not common but can be done. Try it our for yourself.

D HARMONIC MINOR

Dm A A7 Dm D7 Gm A7 Dm

i V V7 i V7/iv V7 i

Dm(maj7) F7 Bbmaj7 C7 F+maj7 A7 Dm(maj7)

Dm(maj7) Asus4 A+7 Dmadd9 Dm

Dsus4 Dm E7 A Ao7 Bbmaj7 A+7 Dm – simple use of the V of V.

Dm B7 Em C7 F+ A+7 Dm

E HARMONIC MINOR

Em G+ Ao7 Am C#7 F#m7 F#m7b5 B C Em E7 Am7 B7 Em(maj7)

F HARMONIC MINOR

Fm Ab+ Eb7 Ab+maj7 Ao7 Bbm7 Bo7 C+ Fm(maj7)

F# HARMONIC MINOR

C# F#m D#7 G#m G#o7 C#7 F#m

F#m A7 D E7 A+ F#7 Bm C#7 F#m

G HARMONIC MINOR

Gm G7 Cm C C#o7 D Gm

Gm A7 D7 Gm

Gm D Ao7 Bb+ A7 D7 Gm

THE PICARDY THIRD

The Pichardy Third is simply a raised 3rd degree of the scale. Basically you end any Harmonic Minor progression on a Major I chord. So instead of coming down to a Gm in G Harmonic Minor you would come down to a G Major chord. (Gm A7 D7 G.)

You could end here but you could even start to modulate as well.

SCALES TO USE FOR SOLOING AND IMPROVISING

QOkay so some of you have been dying to get here ytytayor maybe you just skipped everything else and came straight here. Thats fine. For now at least. Make sure you know your chords and our chord tones as they will be helpful tools in soloing and improvising.

Knowing your chords allows you to use arpeggios easier and also to use chord melodies and solos.

You don’t always need scales to solo or improvise with. You have arpeggios and chords to use along with your scales so why limit yourself.

The B Harmonic Minor Scale is B C# D E F# G A# and the chords are Bm C#o D+ Em F# G A#o. All of these chords have their own specific mode. For example on the 1st chord you can use the 1st mode which starts from the first note of the scale, or you can use any other scale as long as it sounds good. This usually means that youdty are landing tytyton a chord tone. You can use other notes of the scale as passing tones but you want to land or end on a tone that is contained in the chord being played in the harmony.

For the second chord you can use the 2nd mode or any other mode as well and so on…for each of the chords in the scale. The MAIN thing to keep in mind here is Chord Tones.

Here are the Modes of the B Harmonic Minor Scale:

Mode 1 – B C# D E F# G A#. Mode 2 – C# D E F# G A# B. Mode 3 – D E F# G A# B C#. Mode 4 – E F# G A# B C# D. Mode 5 – F# G A# B C# D E. Mode 5 is also known as the Spanish Phrygian or the Phrygian Dominant Mode. Mode 6 – G A# B C# D E F#. Mode 7 – A# B C# D E F# G.

The C Harmonic Minor Scale is C D Eb F G Ab B and the chords are Cm Do Eb+ Fm G Ab Bo. Here are the Modes – C D Eb F G Ab B. Mode 2 – D Eb F G Ab B C. Mode 3 – Eb F G Ab B C D. Mode 4 – F G Ab B C D Eb. Mode 5 is G Ab B C D Eb F. Mode 6 is Ab B C D Eb F G. Mode 7 is B C D Eb F G Ab.

The C# Harmonic Minor Scale is C# D# E F# G# A B# and the chords are C#m D#o E+ F#m G# A B#o. Mode 1 – C# D# E F# G# A B#. Mode 2 – D# E F# G# A B# C#. Mode 3 – E F# G# A B# C# D#. Mode 4 – F# G# A B# C# D# E. Mode 5 – G# A B# C# D# E F#. Mode 6 – A B# C# D# E F# G#. Mode 7 – B# C# D# E F# G# A.

The D Harmonic Minor Scale is D E F G A Bb C# and the chords are Dm Eo F+ Gm A Bb C#o.

Mode 1 is simply the scale. D E F G A Bb C#. Mode 2 is E F G A Bb C# D. Mode 3 is F G A Bb C# D E. Mode 4 is G A Bb C# D E F. Mode 5 (Spanish Phrygian) is A Bb C# D E F G. Mode 6 is Bb C# D E F G A. Mode 7 starts from the leading tone as it does in all keys – C# D E F G A Bb.

The Eb Harmonic Minor Scale is Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb D and the chords are Ebm Fo Gb+ Abm Bb Cb Do.

The E Harmonic Minor Scale is E F# G Am B C D# and the chords are Em F#o G+ Am B C D#o.

The F Harmonic Minor Scale is F G Ab Bb C Db E and the chords are Fm Go Ab+ Bbm C Db Eo.

The F# Harmonic Minor Scale is F# G# A B C# D E# and the chords are F#m G#o A+ Bm C# D E#o.

The G Harmonic Minor Scale is G A Bb C D Eb F# and the chords are Gm Ao Bb+ Cm D Eb F#o.