Minor scales have a dark and mysterious sound that is used to create tension and emotion in music. They’re essential scales to learn for composers and musicians, but they can be a bit confusing as there are three different types.
In this post, we’re going to be exploring the natural, melodic, and harmonic forms of A minor scale. So, if you’re ready to dive into the key of A minor, let’s get started!
Table of Contents
A Natural Minor Scale
The first form of A minor that we will look at is the natural minor scale.
It’s made up of seven notes starting on A (which is known as the keynote). It then follows the natural minor scale formula of whole and half steps.
This gives us the notes: A B C D E F G
A Natural Minor Scale in the Treble Clef
Here are all the notes of A natural minor scale in the treble clef, ascending and descending.
A Natural Minor Scale in the Bass Clef
Next up, we have A natural minor scale in the bass clef, ascending and descending.
A Natural Minor Scale in the Alto Clef
The least common of all the clefs, here we have A natural minor scale in the Alto clef, ascending and descending.
A Natural Minor Scale in the Tenor Clef
And finally, here are all the notes of A natural minor scale in the tenor clef, ascending and descending.
Natural Minor Scale Formula
The natural minor scale, like every other type of scale, is constructed by using a certain combination of intervals between each note.
The formula, using whole steps and half steps, is:
Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step.
This is abbreviated toW W H W W W H.
Using the British terminology of tones and semitones, this would be:
Tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.
Which gets abbreviated toT S T T S T T.
A Harmonic Minor Scale
The next form of A minor scale we’ll look at is the A harmonic minor which is slightly different from the natural minor in that it has a raised 7th note.
So, the notes in A harmonic minor are: A B C D E F G#
Notice that the seventh note is raised from a G to a G#.
A Harmonic Minor Scale in the Treble Clef
First, let’s look at A harmonic minor scale in the treble clef, ascending and descending.
A Harmonic Minor Scale in the Bass Clef
Next, we have A harmonic minor ascending and descending in the bass clef.
A Harmonic Minor Scale in the Alto Clef
The least common of all the clefs, here we have A harmonic minor ascending and descending in the alto clef.
A Harmonic Minor Scale in the Tenor Clef
And now we have A harmonic minor in the tenor clef, ascending and descending.
Hamonic Minor Scale Formula
The natural minor scale, like every other type of scale, is constructed by using a certain combination of intervals between each note.
The formula, using whole steps and half steps, is:
Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole and a half step, half step.
This is abbreviated toW H W W H WH H.
Using the British terminology of tones and semitones, this would be:
Tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone and a semitone, semitone.
Which gets abbreviated toT S T T S TS S.
A Melodic Minor Scale
And the last type of minor scale we’ll look at is A melodic minor scale. This one is a bit different from the others, though.
When it’s ascending, it’s different from the natural in that its 6th and 7th notes are raised.
This gives us the notes: A B C D E F# G#
But, when descending, the 6th and 7th notes are flattened.
This means that it’s the same as the natural minor scale when descending, giving us the notes: G F E D C B A
A Melodic Minor Scale in the Treble Clef
Let’s take a look at A melodic minor scale in the treble clef, ascending and descending.
A Melodic Minor Scale in the Bass Clef
Next up, let’s take a look at A melodic minor scale ascending and descending in the bass clef.
A Melodic Minor Scale in the Alto Clef
Now we have A melodic minor scale in the alto clef, ascending and descending.
A Melodic Minor Scale in the Tenor Clef
And here’s A melodic minor scale in the tenor clef, ascending and descending.
What is the Key Signature of A Minor?
Every minor key has a key signature, just like the major scales. This tells us which notes should be played sharp or flat (other than the raised notes in the harmonic and melodic minor scales.
A minor has the same key signature as C major, which has no sharps or flats in its key signature.
What is the Relative Major Scale of A Minor?
Every minor scale has a relative major scale, and every major one has a relative minor one. But what is the relative major scale of A minor?
The relative major scale of A minor is C major.
Here is C major scale, which uses all the same notes as A natural minor but starts on C, which is its keynote: C D E F G A B
But how do we know that C major is the relative major scale of A minor?
Well, to work out the relative major key of a minor one, all we have to do is go up three half steps (semitones).
So from A, we go up one half step to A#, a second half step to B, and a third half step to C: A > A# > B > C
To learn more about the relative major of A minor, see our guide to C major scale here.
Conclusion
That’s it for our guide to the scale of A minor! We hope it helped make a bit more sense of everything.
Feel free to use this post as a reference and let us know if you have any other questions.
