D harmonic minor scale

7 notes · the natural 7th over a ♭3

Natural minor with the seventh raised back up, so the key gets a real dominant: the V is major and its leading tone points at the tonic. The cost is the step of three semitones between ♭6 and 7, which is what makes the scale sound the way it does.

Heard in: Minor-key classical harmony, gypsy jazz, neoclassical metal.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantlydian augmentedalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of D harmonic minor

The whole scale. Choose a chord below and this row will show which of these notes it uses.

D
1
E
2
F
♭3
G
4
A
5
Bb
♭6
C#
7
357912152, E string fret 02♭3, E string fret 1♭34, E string fret 345, E string fret 55♭6, E string fret 6♭67, E string fret 971, E string fret 1012, E string fret 122♭3, E string fret 13♭34, E string fret 1545, A string fret 05♭6, A string fret 1♭67, A string fret 471, A string fret 512, A string fret 72♭3, A string fret 8♭34, A string fret 1045, A string fret 125♭6, A string fret 13♭61, D string fret 012, D string fret 22♭3, D string fret 3♭34, D string fret 545, D string fret 75♭6, D string fret 8♭67, D string fret 1171, D string fret 1212, D string fret 142♭3, D string fret 15♭34, G string fret 045, G string fret 25♭6, G string fret 3♭67, G string fret 671, G string fret 712, G string fret 92♭3, G string fret 10♭34, G string fret 1245, G string fret 145♭6, G string fret 15♭67, B string fret 271, B string fret 312, B string fret 52♭3, B string fret 6♭34, B string fret 845, B string fret 105♭6, B string fret 11♭67, B string fret 1471, B string fret 1512, e string fret 02♭3, e string fret 1♭34, e string fret 345, e string fret 55♭6, e string fret 6♭67, e string fret 971, e string fret 1012, e string fret 122♭3, e string fret 13♭34, e string fret 154
15 frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

The chords in D harmonic minor

Take every other note of the scale and you have a chord. Do it from each degree in turn and you have the key. Each row below is that stack, and the letters in it say what each scale note becomes in that chord — so the F of the scale is the 3rd of one chord, the 5th of another and the root of a third. Choose a row to see it on the neck.

Each chord of D harmonic minor, and which notes of the scale it takes
DegreeChord
D
1
E
2
F
♭3
G
4
A
5
Bb
♭6
C#
7
iR·3·5·7
ii°7R·3·5·
♭III+·7R·3·5
iv5·7R·3·
V·5·7R·3
♭VI3·5·7R·
vii°·3·5·7R

Every note of the scale appears in four of these chords, and every chord shares three of its four notes with the chord a third away from it. That overlap is why one can be substituted for another.

What to play D harmonic minor over

The chords on D whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over DmMaj11 there is nothing in D harmonic minor that can sound wrong.

DmMaj11DmMaj9Dsus2sus4DmMaj7Dmadd9DmDsus2Dsus4D5

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode