A Harmonic Minor
Minor with a raised 7th — and an exotic edge.
Harmonic minor raises the 7th of natural minor, restoring the leading tone. The gap it creates gives the scale its dramatic, classical, almost Eastern flavour.
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Natural minor with a raised 7th
A Harmonic Minor is A B C D E F G#. It is natural minor with the ♭7 raised to a natural 7 (G#) — bringing back the leading tone that pulls to the root.
- The ♭3 (C) and ♭6 (F) keep it minor.
- The raised 7 (G#) is the leading tone.
- The step from F to G# is a wide, exotic-sounding gap.
The augmented second
The jump from ♭6 (F) to the natural 7 (G#) is an augmented 2nd — a step and a half. That interval is the whole flavour: dramatic, Spanish, Middle-Eastern.
- The F–G# leap is the signature sound.
- Land on G# to feel the strong pull home to A.
- It powers the exotic, classical minor color.
Where it lives
Harmonic minor is built to sit over a V7 chord in a minor key — in A minor, over E7 — giving that dominant a proper leading tone to resolve.
- Use it over the V7 (E7) in a minor key.
- The G# is the 3rd of E7 — that's why it fits.
- A staple of classical, flamenco and neoclassical metal.
Raise the 7th of natural minor and you regain the pull to the root — plus that unmistakable, dramatic augmented-second color.
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