harmonic minor scale over chords

Hey everybody,

I'm starting to spend more time creating my own music, and I've discovered a couple licks that sound pretty cool and later I found that they are both part of the harmonic minor scale. The first lick is in the key of G, and the second is in the key of C#. I also have one in the key of A that I replaced the C# lick with.

Anyway, I assumed these licks would sound good over their respective minor chords. The G harmonic minor lick over a Gm chord, the C# lick over a C#m chord. But just for fun I tried playing them over the major version of those chords, a Gmaj and a C#maj, and it actually fits much better!

So why is it that these harmonic minor licks sound better over major chords? I figured the key word MINOR meant they would go with minor chords. But not so much.

Any ideas?

Congrats on creating your own music! :)

Originally Posted by: bbzswa777So why is it that these harmonic minor licks sound better over major chords? I figured the key word MINOR meant they would go with minor chords.

It sounds like you are creating a neat contrast as you shift from a major sound to a minor sound. This is called a parallel key. It's a way of creating a quick, dramatic shift in sound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_key

However, in a more general sense, every scale has both major & minor chords in it's possible harmonic configurations.

If you build a triad on every note of a scale, using only notes from that scale, you will get a variety of major & minor chords; often a diminished in there & in harmonic minor an augmented.

www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=495

Try this experiment! Play a chord built on the fifth degree of the harmonic minor scale, which happens to be a major chord. It's an especially dramatic chord because it's the dominant chord (the V in the harmony of that scale, the chord of strongest sense of resolution). It's also called fifth mode of harmonic minor, the Phrygian dominant mode.

Start on a G major chord, but play C harmonic minor starting on G

|--3------------------------------------------|
|--3------------------------------------------|
|--4--------------------------4-5-------------|
|--5------------------3-5-6-------------------|
|--5--------2-3-5-6---------------------------|
|--3---3-4------------------------------------|

Neat sounds!

Ah, I got it! Letting that chord ring out while I play these others licks actually helps to put them in perspective much more, if that makes sense. Or even playing them while their one root note rings out.

So, for further clarification, it's possible to pick out certain notes from this scale that are major, while another combination could be minor? Even though it's the harmonic minor scale (or any scale for that matter), it still includes enough major notes to put together a major sounding lick?

Originally Posted by: bbzswa777So, for further clarification, it's possible to pick out certain notes from this scale that are major, while another combination could be minor?[/quote]
If you build a triad on every note of a scale, using only notes from that scale, you will get a variety of major & minor chords; often a diminished in there & in harmonic minor an augmented.

Check out this tutorial that explains the basics of triadic harmony.

www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=495
[QUOTE=bbzswa777] Even though it's the harmonic minor scale (or any scale for that matter), it still includes enough major notes to put together a major sounding lick?

Check out this post on building chords with the harmonic minor scale.

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=243818&postcount=8

The whole thread is a good read with lots of tab explanations & some links to other lessons.

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28306

Enjoy!

Thank you!

hey bbzwa,do you have a looper.if not im sure you know it would help out allot. with the stuff ur working on,well its a must have anyway.take care. keep up the good work.it seems ur advanicin fast .

Yeah that's something I've been thinking about getting. But for now I use a primitive method: I'll video record myself playing the rhythm guitar, then I'll upload it, then play it through my computer speakers while I record myself playing the lead over that. So the rhythm is really a recording of a recording, lol. But it works for now.

Thanks for the suggestion.