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.
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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