If you need song writing inspiration or want to delve into interesting chord voicings then look no further as Mick Goodrick’s almanacs are now available free of charge.
The Goodchord almanacs are endlessly fascinating and provide composition material that would last several lifetimes.
Heck, there is so much that you could do even with just one line, let alone one page, that it boggles the mind.
Everything Sounds Better in Harmonic Minor
Etudes 1 and 2 were based on closed and spread triads but Etude 3 is based on drop 2 chords on the top 4 strings in Harmonic Minor.
It’s just true, everything does sound better in harmonic minor!
Do you know this little trick;
If you take your major scale and flatten the 3rd you are now playing in melodic minor.
If you flatten the 6th in melodic minor you are now playing in harmonic minor.
Sounds easy right? Well it is,but listen to the sounds!
Moving from a major soundscape or even a melodic minor soundscape to harmonic minor is like moving from the city to the country. It’s an entirely different place to live!
The b6 in harmonic minor is just so delicious as is the Minor(Maj)7th chord.
Also check out the Maj7(#5) chord. These harmonies are just so far removed from the major scale and are very emotive.
Building Chords in Harmonic Minor
Building chords in any scale is easy.
First you spell out the scale.
Short story #3 is mainly in A harmonic minor (before it modulates to E natural minor).
So the A harmonic minor scale spelled out is
A B C D E F G# A
You can see that the harmonic minor scale formula is
Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone+Semitone Semitone
The leap of a minor third between the F and G# notes is unusual in 7 note scales and results in some very colourful sounds!
When dealing with tertiary harmony (as opposed to say quartal harmony) we can stack intervals of a third to make chords. Doing this with the A harmonic minor scale we get the following notes (arpeggios!) and seventh chords.
A C E G# = A minor (Major) 7th
B D F A = B minor 7th (flat 5)
C E G# B = C Major 7 (Sharp 5)
D F A C = D minor 7th
E G# B D = E Dominant 7th
F A C E = F Major 7th
G# B D F = G# diminished
You can see that some of these chords can bring new colours to your playing.
Of course each chord will sound different if you play them in different inversions so there’s lots of fun to be had exploring the harmonic minor scale.
Short Story #3 in Harmonic Minor
As mentioned above Short Story #3 modulates from A harmonic minor to E natural minor.
See if you can spot the modulation (the change in key ) which starts with an E minor chord.
So pull up the almanacs, find a quiet space, explore and have fun!
Who Is Modern Guitar Harmony?
Modern Guitar Harmony (MGH) is a non profit educational website dedicated to bringing modern guitar harmony concepts free of charge to all guitar players around the world.
MGH has the legal rights over Mick Goodricks materials. We use these materials, and other harmonic materials, to spread the joy of harmony worldwide.
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