The natural minor scale, also called the Aeolian mode, is the classic minor sound: dark, emotional and a little sad, the scale of rock ballads, metal and moody pop. It's the major scale started from its 6th note, so A minor uses exactly the notes of C major.
Formula
The reference key is A minor, and it's the key the diagrams use.
| Degree | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | b6 | b7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
Steps: W H W W H W W. Compared with A major, the 3, 6 and 7 are all lowered.
Sound and character
The b3 (C) makes it minor; the b6 (F) makes it dark. That F sits a half step above the 5 (E) and leans down onto it, which gives the scale its sighing, melancholy pull. Without a leading tone under the root, it resolves gently rather than with the snap of major.
Where it's used
Rock and power ballads, hard rock and metal, pop, film music and plenty of folk. It fits minor chords that act as the i of the key: Am, Am7, Am(add9). Its diatonic chords are Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F and G (as 7ths: Am7, Bm7b5, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7). Progressions like Am-F-G, Am-G-F-G or Am-Dm-Em make the key sound: the F and G chords are the giveaway.
How to move it
The root is the amber dot. Slide the whole pattern so the amber dots land on the new key's note: up 2 frets for B minor (Position 1 then sits at frets 6-10), or down 5 frets for E minor. The fingering doesn't change, only the fret numbers.
The exercises
- Play Position 1 up and down in 8ths, two octaves from the A on the low E string. Index on 5, middle on 6, ring on 7, pinky on 8; reach back with your index for the B at the 4th fret on the G string.
- Play a short melody against the open A string. Hold the F and hear it fall onto E.
Change one note and you get a different minor: raise the 6th for Dorian, lower the 2nd for Phrygian, raise the 7th for harmonic minor. Drop the 2 and b6 and you have A minor pentatonic.