I actually want to start where I left off on friday. If you didn’t get a chance to read my post on the triads of the harmonic minor scale, click here.

I promised you that I’d cover the seventh chords of the harmonic minor scale next so here we go!

First, let’s review how we came up with the triads.

We started with our C harmonic minor scale (which is essentially the same as the natural minor scale except the 7th tone is raised a half step).

C harmonic minor
C D Eb F G Ab B C

Then we took every other note of this scale and created block chords:

1st tone: C Eb G
2nd tone: D F Ab
3rd tone: Eb G B
4th tone: F Ab C
5th tone: G B D
6th tone: Ab C Eb
7th tone: B D F

Once we did that, we determined the names of these chords:

1st tone - C minor
2nd tone - D diminished
3rd tone - Eb augmented
4th tone - F minor
5th tone - G major
6th tone - Ab major
7th tone - B diminished

But I reminded you that these were just triads and that we’d played 4-toned chords in the next lesson so let’s take this concept one step further.

Let’s do the same exact thing we did on friday. Let’s take every other note of the scale but instead of stopping at 3 notes, let’s create 4-toned chords.

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

Now let’s determine the names of these chords:

C minor-major 7
D half-diminished 7
Eb augmented major 7
F minor 7
G dominant 7
Ab major 7
B diminished 7

Now let’s compare the triads of the harmonic minor scale to their seventh chord counterparts:

1st tone - minor (triad) >>> minor-major 7
2nd tone - diminished (triad) >>> half-diminished 7
3rd tone - augmented (triad) >>> augmented major 7
4th tone - minor (triad) >>> minor 7
5th tone - major (triad) >>> dominant 7
6th tone - major (triad) >>> major 7
7th tone - diminished (triad) >>> diminished 7

One common misconception is that major triads automatically create major sevenths when you add that extra tone to the chord. That is not always true.

Notice both the 5th and 6th triads were major, yet when you changed the chords to sevenths, the 5th tone turned into a dominant seventh chord and the 6th tone expanded to a major seventh chord.

So because the major 7 and dominant 7 chords share the same basic triad, that seventh tone makes all the difference up top.

The same applies to the diminished triad chords. Notice the 2nd and 7th tones were diminished. However, when we expanded our chords, the 2nd chord turned into a half-diminished seventh chord while the 7th tone expanded to a diminished seventh chord.

Lastly, the 1st tone. It was a basic minor chord but when you added the 7th degree, it turned into a minor-major 7 chord.

Whoaa! A “minor-major” seventh chord? You’ve probably never heard that one before!

It’s when the first part of the chord is minor but the seventh is major.

In other words, you may have a C+Eb+G (C minor) on the bottom but a “B” natural up top.

That chord is introduced to us through the harmonic minor scale, among others.

So there you have it! The seventh chords of the harmonic minor scale!

Oh yes, I almost forgot. If you really like these minor chords and what we’ve been doing for the last week or so, then you’ll love what Jeff teaches in our new salsa course. Click here for details.

Until next time!

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