2.1 Minor Scales: Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic

Minor scales come in three forms: natural minor follows the pattern whole half whole whole half whole whole, harmonic minor raises the 7th scale degree, and melodic minor raises both the 6th and 7th ascending but returns to natural minor descending. The key signature always matches natural minor, which shares a signature with the relative major, and raised tones show up as accidentals in the music.

What Are the Three Minor Scales?

The three minor scale forms are natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor. Natural minor uses the key signature, harmonic minor raises scale degree 7, and melodic minor raises scale degrees 6 and 7 when ascending but returns to natural minor when descending.

more resources to help you study

practice multiple choiceFRQ practice & scoringcheatsheetsscore calculatorkey terms

Why This Matters for the AP Music Theory Exam

Recognizing the three minor forms supports both the aural and notated parts of AP Music Theory. You may be asked to identify a minor scale form in performed music by ear or to spot it in a score by reading accidentals. This skill also feeds directly into sight-singing minor melodies, hearing why a raised leading tone pulls toward the tonic, and understanding the accidentals you will see in minor-key part writing later in the course. Building fluency now in treble and bass clef helps you move comfortably across modes and clefs, which the exam expects.

Key Takeaways

• Natural minor uses the step pattern whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole and shares its key signature with the relative major.
• Harmonic minor raises the 7th scale degree, creating a leading tone that pulls strongly to the tonic.
• Melodic minor raises both the 6th and 7th going up, then returns to natural minor going down.
• The key signature is always the natural minor signature; raised 6ths and 7ths appear as accidentals, not in the signature.
• Find the relative minor by going down three half steps from the major tonic (or starting on the 6th degree of the major scale).
• Write minor keys with both lowercase and the word "minor" on the exam so your meaning is clear.

Three Types of Minor

Every major scale has minor scales built from a related set of notes. A major key and a minor key that share the same tonic are called parallel keys (for example, C major and C minor).

Like major scales, each minor form has its own pattern of whole and half steps. There are three forms of minor: natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor.

Natural Minor

The natural minor scale has a sound often described as sad, serious, or melancholy. It follows the pattern:

whole - half - whole - whole - half - whole - whole

If you want the parallel natural minor from a major scale, lower the 3rd, 6th, and 7th scale degrees.

You can also build a natural minor by starting on the sixth degree of a major scale and keeping the same notes. That is called the relative minor. For example, A natural minor uses the same notes as C major, starting on A:

A B C D E F G A

C major and A minor are relative keys.

Notice the writing convention: C major is capitalized and A minor is lowercase. Sometimes people just write "the key of d" to mean D minor, and sometimes they write "D minor" using the word instead of letter case. On the AP exam, be specific. Use lowercase and the word "minor" so there is no confusion.

Harmonic Minor

Take a natural minor scale and raise the 7th scale degree, and you get the harmonic minor scale. This is probably the minor sound you are most used to hearing. The raised 7th becomes a leading tone, and your ear likes the half step between the 7th degree and the tonic because it pulls you into the tonic for a strong resolution.

Melodic Minor

The melodic minor scale raises both the 6th and the 7th scale degrees of natural minor, but only on the way up. Descending, melodic minor matches the natural minor (the raised tones are canceled).

Why have melodic minor at all? The name points to melody. Raising both the 6th and 7th ascending removes the large jump (an augmented 2nd) between the lowered 6th and the raised 7th that you get in harmonic minor, which makes melodies smoother to write and sing.

When Do We Use the Different Minors?

You do not write a piece "in" natural, harmonic, or melodic minor. Nobody says a piece is in "d natural minor," they just say "d minor." That is because most pieces mix all three forms depending on how each note functions. The key signature is always the key signature of the natural minor.

To find the relative minor from a major key, go down three half steps from the major tonic. For example, A is three half steps below C, so A minor is the relative minor of C major.

Minor Scale Degrees

The minor scale has seven degrees with the same names as the major scale:

1. Tonic: the first degree and the starting pitch. It gives the scale its tonality and serves as the point of resolution.
2. Supertonic: the second degree, a major second above the tonic, often used as a point of tension.
3. Mediant: the third degree, a minor third above the tonic, often a transition between tonic and dominant.
4. Subdominant: the fourth degree, a perfect fourth above the tonic, a point of relative stability.
5. Dominant: the fifth degree, a perfect fifth above the tonic, the most important degree after the tonic, providing tension and resolution.
6. Submediant: the sixth degree, a minor sixth above the tonic, often a transition between tonic and subdominant.
7. Leading tone: the raised seventh degree, a major seventh above the tonic, providing a strong pull to the tonic.

The leading tone here is the raised 7th. In natural minor, the 7th is lowered (a whole step below the tonic), and that note is usually called the subtonic instead of the leading tone.

Building chords on these degrees shows why the accidentals depend on context:

• The tonic i chord is minor because of the lowered third.
• The supertonic chord depends on the 6th. In A minor, that is B-D-F#, which would be half diminished if the 6th is raised. Usually the 6th stays lowered, giving a fully diminished ii chord.
• The mediant chord built on the 3rd is augmented if the 7th is raised but major if the 7th is natural. We usually keep the 7th natural here, so it stays major, though some textbooks teach III as augmented.
• The dominant V chord is where we usually raise the 7th, because a V-i progression brings a strong resolution.

See how the accidentals follow the function of each chord? Here are all the chords.

How to Use This on the AP Music Theory Exam

Notated Music

When a score is in a minor key, read the key signature as the natural minor (same signature as the relative major), then watch for accidentals. A raised 7th points to harmonic minor or a dominant function. A raised 6th and 7th together going up signals melodic minor. Identify the form by which scale degrees are altered, not by the key signature alone.

Aural Recognition

By ear, listen for the leading tone. A strong half step pulling up to the tonic suggests a raised 7th (harmonic or melodic minor). The smooth ascending line with both 6th and 7th raised, then a plain natural minor coming back down, points to melodic minor. A scale with a lowered 6th and 7th throughout is natural minor. You will not be asked to name the exact letter of a key by ear, only the form or relationship.

Sight-Singing

Solfege helps in minor. Using the lowered third and lowered sixth, the harmonic minor degrees are:

1. Tonic: "Do"
2. Supertonic: "Re"
3. Mediant: "Me"
4. Subdominant: "Fa"
5. Dominant: "So"
6. Submediant: "Le"
7. Leading Tone: "Ti"

The lowered third and lowered sixth become "Me" and "Le." If you raise the 6th, "Le" goes back to "La." This system keeps the relationships between scale degrees clear as you move between major and minor.

Worked Example

Try this before reading the solution: given a major scale, identify it, then write all three relative minor forms.

Step by step: the last sharp in the key signature is C#, so the key is D major. To find the relative minor, go down three half steps to B, so the relative minor is B minor.

Start with natural minor, which uses the same key signature as the relative major and no extra accidentals. Begin on B:

For harmonic minor, raise the 7th scale degree to A#:

For melodic minor, raise the 6th and 7th going up, then cancel those raises coming down:

Common Misconceptions

• "A piece is written in harmonic or melodic minor." Pieces are written in a minor key, and they pull from all three forms as needed. The key signature is always the natural minor.
• "The key signature changes for harmonic or melodic minor." It does not. The raised 6th and 7th show up as accidentals inside the music, never in the key signature.
• "The 7th degree in minor is always the leading tone." Only the raised 7th is the leading tone. The natural (lowered) 7th in natural minor is the subtonic, a whole step below the tonic.
• "Melodic minor raises the 6th and 7th in both directions." The raises happen only ascending. Descending melodic minor is the same as natural minor.
• "Relative and parallel keys are the same thing." Relative keys share a key signature but have different tonics (C major and A minor). Parallel keys share a tonic but have different key signatures (C major and C minor).

Related AP Music Theory Guides

• 2.9 Melodic Features
• 2.12 Texture Devices
• 2.8 Timbre
• 2.11 Texture and Texture Types
• 2.13 Rhythmic Devices
• 2.3 Key Relationships: Parallel, Closely Related, and Distantly Related Keys