The Harmonic Minor Primer
This months featured Shortbook™ "The Harmonic Minor Primer", is a primo practice guide for the improvising musician, featuring exercises and sequences based exclusively on the Harmonic Minor Scale system - in all 12 keys
As an essential tool, the Harmonic Minor Scale, along with Melodic Minor and the Major Scale derived minor modes - Dorian, Phrygian and Aeolian (aka Natural Minor) - has been a traditional favorite among improvisers and composers for expressing minor tonality.
This has been particularly true for the early Bebop pioneers, in that Harmonic Minor - while possessing several "avoid notes" (as does the Major Scale), also contains all the required diatonic tonal relationships to form a complete "in house" minor ii-V7-i cadence. This includes a b5 in the ii7 chord (D-F-Ab-C in C min), as well as the altered extensions b9 & b13 of the dominant V7 (G-B-D-F-Ab-Eb).
While it is common to express a tonic minor (i) chord with a Melodic Minor scale - in order to "avoid the avoid note" (Ab in C Harmonic Minor) - the interval of an augmented 2nd (Ab - B) thus created between Harmonic Minor's 6th & 7th scale degrees give this scale its soul and identity.
As an essential tool, the Harmonic Minor Scale, along with Melodic Minor and the Major Scale derived minor modes - Dorian, Phrygian and Aeolian (aka Natural Minor) - has been a traditional favorite among improvisers and composers for expressing minor tonality.
This has been particularly true for the early Bebop pioneers, in that Harmonic Minor - while possessing several "avoid notes" (as does the Major Scale), also contains all the required diatonic tonal relationships to form a complete "in house" minor ii-V7-i cadence. This includes a b5 in the ii7 chord (D-F-Ab-C in C min), as well as the altered extensions b9 & b13 of the dominant V7 (G-B-D-F-Ab-Eb).
While it is common to express a tonic minor (i) chord with a Melodic Minor scale - in order to "avoid the avoid note" (Ab in C Harmonic Minor) - the interval of an augmented 2nd (Ab - B) thus created between Harmonic Minor's 6th & 7th scale degrees give this scale its soul and identity.
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