C Harmonic Minor Scale

C harmonic minor scale notes and intervals

C harmonic minor has 7 notes. Each is named by its distance from the root, which is the same in every key — learn the numbers once and every harmonic minor scale reads the same.

Step pattern from the root: W – H – W – W – H – W+H – H (W is a whole step, two frets; H is a half step, one fret; W+H is three frets).

Scales it shares notes with:

• C natural minor — natural minor — the same scale with a b7 instead of the raised 7th

C harmonic minor scale positions on guitar — all 7

Three notes on every string gives C harmonic minor exactly seven positions — one starting on each note of the scale — that together cover frets 1 to 16. Position 4 sits lowest on the neck. Because each shape starts on a different note of the scale, each is also the natural fingering for one of its modes (below). Move any of them twelve frets and you have the same shape an octave up.

Position 1 — frets 8–13

Starts on the 1 (C) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 2 — frets 10–15

Starts on the 2 (D) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 3 — frets 11–16

Starts on the b3 (Eb) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 4 — frets 1–7

Starts on the 4 (F) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 5 — frets 3–8

Starts on the 5 (G) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 6 — frets 4–10

Starts on the b6 (Ab) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 7 — frets 6–12

Starts on the 7 (B) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

The seven three-notes-per-string positions on their own page →

Chords built from C harmonic minor

Stacking this scale in thirds gives chords natural minor never produces: a major V and a diminished vii° that pull hard back to Cm, and an augmented III. That is where the classical, flamenco and metal cadences come from.

For the plain minor key’s chords, see chords in the key of C minor →

Modes of the C harmonic minor scale

Start the same seven notes on a different degree, treat that note as home, and you have a mode. Each three-notes-per-string position above starts on one scale degree, so position 1 is the natural fingering for the first mode, position 2 for the second, and so on. The shape alone does not make the mode: with C as home, every one of these positions still sounds like C harmonic minor. A position becomes its mode when its first note is the one you resolve to, over that note’s chord or a drone on it.

• C Harmonic Minor
  position 1 · starts on the 1
• D Locrian ♮6
  position 2 · starts on the 2
• Eb Ionian ♯5
  position 3 · starts on the b3
• F Dorian ♯4
  position 4 · starts on the 4
• G Phrygian Dominant
  position 5 · starts on the 5
• Ab Lydian ♯2
  position 6 · starts on the b6
• B Ultralocrian
  position 7 · starts on the 7

How to practice the C harmonic minor scale

1. Start with position 4 at frets 1–7, slowly, until every note lands on the click. The loop keeps the shape and the tempo for you.
2. Add five beats a minute each time it feels easy. When straight runs get dull, play the same position in thirds — the pattern that turns a scale into lines.
3. Hear C harmonic minor harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up. Then switch Harmony to 6ths and play it again.