Back in the Major Scale lesson, we told you that almost everything in music theory is described relative to the major scale. We even gave you a preview:

"A minor scale? Flat the 3rd, 6th, and 7th of the major scale."

Wellll here we are. If you paid attention in the last couple lessons and know your major scales... then you already know your minor scales.

The natural minor scale follows this pattern of whole and half steps:

W — H — W — W — H — W — W

Compare that to the major scale: W — W — H — W — W — W — H. The half steps land in different places, which is what gives minor its darker sound.

Here's A natural minor:

All white keys — exactly the same notes as C major, just starting on A. Play it on your instrument or on our keyboard and hear how different it sounds despite using the same notes. That's the power of which note is "home."

You don’t need to memorize a new formula of whole steps and half steps. If you know a major scale, you can build the natural minor by lowering the 3rd, 6th, and 7th by one half step each:

C major: C — D — E — F — G — A — B

C natural minor: C — D — Eb — F — G — Ab — Bb

The next lesson will give you an even quicker shortcut to get to a minor scale, but understanding this kind of alteration is also important.

The natural minor scale has a quirk that bothered composers enough to create a variant. The 7th degree (G in A minor) is a whole step below the root. In the major scale, the 7th is only a half step below — that closeness creates a strong pull upward. That pull has a name: the leading tone.

Natural minor doesn't have a leading tone. The harmonic minor scale fixes this by raising the 7th:

Play it. That G# pulls hard toward A. The resolution is much stronger than in natural minor.

We'll see why this matters for chords when we get to minor key harmony. Short version: raising the 7th gives you a major V chord in a minor key, and that V chord is what makes the music feel like it has direction.

Raising the 7th created a new problem: there's now a gap of three half steps between the 6th and the 7th (F to G# in A minor). That's an augmented second — it sounds exotic, almost Middle Eastern. Sometimes you want that. Sometimes you don't.

The melodic minor smooths it out by also raising the 6th:

In classical theory, the melodic minor only raises the 6th and 7th when ascending — coming back down, it reverts to natural minor. In jazz and pop, people usually just use the raised version in both directions. Don't worry about this distinction too much. It'll make more sense when you encounter it in real music.

Natural minor, 90% of the time. When someone says "minor scale" without specifying, they mean natural minor. It's the one that defines the sound of minor keys in pop, rock, folk, and most other styles.

Harmonic and melodic minor exist for specific situations — mostly related to chords and voice leading. You don't need to master them right now. Just know they exist, know why they exist, and you'll recognize them when they show up.

• Piano Fluency - Minor Scales
• Implied Music - Where to begin, 3 types of minor scales This vid goes into stuff from our NEXT unit, so don't worry if you don't understand everything he says here. It'll all make sense soon!

Head over to the Scale Trainer and practice building natural minor scales. Start with A minor (all white keys), then try E minor, D minor, and C minor.

Once you're comfortable, switch to harmonic minor and listen to how that raised 7th changes the feel. You'll hear it immediately.