Compare then contrast

Hiya, hope you’re all well. This week I thought we’d take the same chord progression through 3 different scales to highlight the different sounds each scale gives us. The 3 scales we’re going to look at are C major, C melodic minor and C harmonic minor.

C major

C D E F G A B C

C melodic minor

C D Eb F B A B C

C harmonic minor

C D Eb F G Ab B C

The chord progression we’re going to use is a iii, vi, ii, V. Although the ‘numeral’ of the chord stays the same through each example, the chord qualities change as we go from scale to scale. I’ve also added some extensions to each chord so we can hear more of the scale.

In C major we’ve got

iii                     vi                     ii                      V

E minorb9        A minor 7         D minor 9         G9

In C melodic minor we’ve got

biii                   vi                     ii                      V

Eb aug9           A minor 7         D minor7 b9     G9

In C harmonic minor we’ve got

biii                   bvi                   ii                      V

Eb aug9           Ab major 7       D minor7 b9     G7 b9

In each example I resolve to the relevant major or minor chord.

The change from scale to scale is very subtle, but I feel you can hear it more clearly when it is played as chords rather than as a scale because you have surrounding notes sounding simultaneously to compare the differences.  Try to sing each scale over each chord progression, see if you can hear the notes changing from scale to scale, it’s a great ear training exercise!! More soon!!

Loz Rustons book - http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/laurence-ruston/melodic-minor-under-the-microscope/ebook/product-22426978.html 

 The chord in the lesson were generated by Neck Diagrams software