A minor scale's third note is always a half step lower than the third note of the major scale with the same name.

There are three variations on the minor scale: natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor.

Each minor scale is an ordered collection of half and whole steps, as follows:

Natural minor: W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑W‑W (ascending)

Harmonic minor: W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑3Hs‑H (ascending)

Melodic minor: W‑H‑W‑W‑W‑W‑H (ascending) and W‑W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑W (descending).

While there are three minor scales, minor keys and minor key signatures are always identified as simply "minor" ("A minor," "D minor," etc.) and are based on the natural minor scale.

Scale degrees in minor are the same as those in major. There are a few new solfège syllables in minor including me (\downarrow\hat3), le (\downarrow\hat6), and te (\downarrow\hat7).

Each note of a minor scale is also named with scale-degree names. These are largely the same in minor as they are in major, except for the subtonic (te or \downarrow\hat7).

Major and minor keys share two different relationships. The parallel relationship is when a major and minor key share a tonic note, while the relative relationship is when a major and minor key share a key signature.

Each major key signature has a corresponding relative minor key signature whose tonic is three half steps below the relative major's tonic. The orders of sharps and flats in major and minor key signatures are the same.

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The Minor Scale

A minor scale's third note is always a half step lower than the third note of the major scale with the same name (e.g., B major and B minor). There are three different types of minor scales: natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor. These three types of minor scales should be thought of like flavors of ice cream; ice cream is still ice cream regardless of whether it is chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, etc. Likewise, a work is simply "minor" or "in minor"; musicians do not consider music to be "in" a specific type of minor scale (i.e., natural, harmonic, or melodic). In other words, while there are three minor scales, minor keys and minor key signatures are always identified as simply "minor" ("A minor," "D minor," etc.) and are based on the natural minor scale.

The three different types of minor scales are useful categories primarily for instrumental performers. Learning to play the different types of minor scales on instruments allows performers to become familiar with the minor patterns most commonly used in Western classical music. Just like major scales, minor scales are named for their first note (including the accidental, if any), which is also their last note.

Natural Minor

The natural minor form of the minor scale consists of an ordered collection of half and whole steps with the ascending succession W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑W‑W, as shown in Example 1. Each whole step is labeled with a square bracket and “W,” and each half step is labeled with an angled bracket and “H.” Listen carefully to Example 1 and notice that the half and whole step pattern of the natural minor form of the minor scale is the same ascending and descending.

Example 1. A G natural minor scale. (Sounding scale is F natural minor.)

Harmonic Minor

The harmonic minor form of the minor scale consists of an ordered collection of half and whole steps in the ascending succession W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑3Hs‑H (“3Hs” = 3 half steps), as shown in Example 2. The curved bracket represents a distance of three half steps (or a whole step plus a half step). Listen carefully to Example 2 and notice that the half and whole step pattern of the harmonic minor form of the minor scale is the same ascending and descending.

Example 2. A G harmonic minor scale. (Sounding scale is F harmonic minor.)

Melodic Minor

The melodic minor form of the minor scale consists of an ordered collection of half and whole steps in the ascending succession W‑H‑W‑W‑W‑W‑H and the descending succession W‑W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑W, as shown in Example 3. When you listen to Example 3, notice that the melodic minor form has different ascending and descending patterns: the ascending pattern is unique to the melodic minor form, while the descending pattern is the same as the natural form.

Example 3. A G melodic minor scale. (Sounding scale is F melodic minor.)

Example 4 shows four versions of a C scale—major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor—with the scale degrees indicated (see below). Listen to this example carefully, noting the aural differences between the scales.

Example 4. Major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales, all starting on C.

Minor Scale Degrees, Solfège, and Scale-Degree Names

Minor scale degrees, solfège, and scale-degree names are similar to, but not exactly the same as, their major-scale counterparts. Example 5 summarizes the three types of minor scale, and shows the scale degrees and solfège for each. Note that the scale degrees are the same as in a major scale. The bottom line shows the solfège syllables, which differ from the major-scale syllables in several places to reflect the minor scale’s pattern of whole and half steps.



Example 5. Scale degrees and solfege for all three types of minor scales: a) natural minor; b) harmonic minor, and c) melodic minor.

In natural minor (Example 5a), mi (\hat{3}) becomes me (\downarrow\hat3) (pronounced "may"), la (\hat{6}) becomes le (\downarrow\hat6) (pronounced "lay"), and ti (\hat{7}) becomes te (\downarrow\hat7) (pronounced "tay"). If you sing or play through the above example, you’ll notice that the ending lacks the same sense of closure you heard in the major scale. In the major scale, this closure is created in part by the ascending semitone between ti (\hat{7}) and do (\hat{1}).

In harmonic minor (Example 5b), mi (\hat{3}) becomes me (\downarrow\hat3) and la (\hat{6}) becomes le (\downarrow\hat6). Having ti (\hat{7}) creates the sense of closure that is absent in