We'll learn about the key signatures for these scales in Lesson 7 - Key Signatures, and Lesson 8 - Writing Scales. Let's see how E minor melodic and D minor melodic look: Click the play button and concentrate on the notes in red- they're the ones which change on the way down. Here's A minor melodic, ascending and descending. The very top note will always be the tonic (keynote) of the scale, but the two notes just below it are the ones which change, depending on which direction you're going in. The top end of the melodic scale uses a completely different pattern. On the way up (ascending), the pattern is:Īs you can see, the descending scale is not just a back-to-front ascending scale, (as it was in the harmonic scale). Melodic minor scales are a bit more complicated, because they have one pattern on the way up, but another on the way down. Play them slowly on a piano, if you have one, and look carefully at how many semitones there are between each note. Let's look at the two other minor scales you need to know for Grade Two Music Theory, E minor and D minor. The harmonic minor scale is like the natural minor scale, but with one important difference - the 7th degree of the scale is one semitone higher in the harmonic minor. Let's start by building a scale of A minor harmonic ascending (going up):Īnd now let's look at A minor harmonic descending (going down):Īs you can see, it's exactly the same notes, but in reverse order. Harmonic minor scales are built on this pattern: This pattern of tones/semitones has another name - it is the Aeolian mode scale. Using the same pattern of notes, we can make the natural minor scales in E and D: The descending scales uses the same notes, but in reverse order: Your browser does not support the audio element. If you play a one octave scale on the piano, starting on A and using only the white notes, this is the "natural A minor scale". Natural minor scales are built on this pattern: We think it's a good idea to learn about all three kinds while you're studying, so let's find out what the difference is! For the Trinity Grade Two Music Theory exam, you need to know the harmonic and natural minor scales.If you are sitting the paper-based exam, you will be asked to choose between harmonic and melodic minor scales. You will not be asked about the natural or melodic minor scale. For the ABRSM Grade Two Online Music Theory exam (from July 2020), you will only be asked about harmonic minor.Many people think that minor scales sound sad, compared to major scales which sound happy.Īlthough there is only one kind of major scale, there are three kinds of minor scale - " harmonic", " melodic" and " natural". Minor scales sound different to major scales because they are built on a different pattern of tones (whole steps) and semitones (half steps). Suitable for: ABRSM Grade 2 Trinity Grade 2 GCSE AP Music Theory Beginners Rewriting in a New Time Signature Exercises Working with Time Signatures Exercisesġ1. Key Signatures & Accidentals Exercisesġ0. Treble & Bass Clef, Pitch and Transposition ExercisesĦ. Treble & Bass Clef, Pitch and TranspositionĢ.