Learning the Harmonic Minor Scale | How To Write Solos

There can be a lot of confusion about the Harmonic Minor Scale. Questions that my students frequently ask me are:
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❓"When am I able to use the Harmonic Minor Scale, because when I try it... it sounds terrible!"
Great Question! The more simple we try to keep the Harmonic Minor Scale initially, the better. When we dive too deep into theory, instead of just sticking with what we already know, we get lost and frustrated. I broke down this scale and when you can put it into your practice and solos.
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[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Pre-Sale for my Debut Album is officially LIVE! The bundle is the option available: $40 🎸Instant digital download of the album. 🎸1 Limited-Run Shirt 🎸1 CD signed by me 🎸1 11x17 poster signed by me 🎸And a personalized thank you card! guitarefficiency.com/b/presale-bundle

[@got2rock4]

Sweet J. Craft Custom 🔥🎸 Iblove the Harmonic Scale been using it since Malmsteen first came out. Yes I'm that old I was learning Randy Rhoads licks when Yngwie came out. . Rock on🤘

[@QuikdethDeviantart]

If you’re having trouble producing a good progression for something tricky, say diminished… you can just use nice neutral power chords. You should be able to use any diatonic scale as long as you stay in the right key for the chords! Great lesson and good luck to all my aspiring guitar god brothers and never stop climbing that mountain!

[@user-hx2xj5gt1m]

finally someone why actually wants people to understand what he's talking about

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Thank you! Glad it helped

[@fliesandpigs]

Great video, i've been looking around for a while for some lessons on harmonic minor scale and all the videos i've seen were either too complicated or too simplistic, yours is the best one I've seen, you deserve more recognition, thank you.

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Thanks so much!

[@spartan7336]

Just came across this video. Excellent job in getting one started on using Harmonic Minor over chord changes in a real and practical way!!

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@batanguenongulaga6779]

You're the best KZbinr that explains the harmonic minor in easy way and simplest form. Good job! 👍

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Thank you!

[@DannyLugo-Music]

Thanks brother for the clearly explanation. Understand 🎼🗣️keep rocking

[@director2bob]

New subscriber here. I heard the first 5 notes you played and new you kicked ass. Plus you talk about my hero Uli. Thanks for the great content. I will be watching all of your videos and will "smash" the like button😎

[@somtingwongwai7194]

This logic means you can play the melodic minor (E Lydian Dominant), 1/2 whole diminish, mixolydian and whole tone as they all share the 135b7 dominant chord. And wha-loa you just after 30 years you finally understood what Marty Friedman's said on his Melodic Control Video about highlighting melodies around chord tones and just make up any scale or notes around it

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Lol you're exactly right! No notes is wrong. Play what feels great and sounds great.

[@TheJinx1]

Logic? My logic is how the music feeeeelzzz Yeah Baybee! n/

[@ThunderFalcon333]

Awesome this helped me alot

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Glad to hear it!

[@philipbeasley72]

Nice video!

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Thanks!

[@razesjang6463]

Thank you so much.....

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

You are welcome!

[@aliprudijojonkunfayakun9305]

Tanks

[@nobnobnobnob]

If I watched this video years ago. I will just skip it because I won't be able to comprehend what's happening. But now, it makes a lot of sense specifically when you start with the diatonic major chord progression

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Glad to hear that! Hopefully it helped a little

[@dawin6710]

I was trying to imporvise on with Hotel Califormia Backing Track. The F# on that Bm scale just fucked me up everytime. I had now idea what so wrong. Forgetten concept of harmonic minor since school was the cause. Now thanks to this refresher I won't be tricked again. Thanks, cool video.

[@digikaininja5]

Zach i love the way u explained the Harmonic minor...can u show us how to construct a MESHUGGAH type basic song from scratch using the 1/2 Whole diminished scale....i think you will do justice to it. and it will be helpful to a lot of us

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

That's a good idea!

[@user-sb3eg1jd9y]

Nice one Zach. Just getting my head around the slash A harmonic minor sweet child of mine lick, and the change you speak of is really prominent in that. I also have a quick question. if you had a couple of thousand spare bucks , what guitar would you buy for shredding and metal. I ask because I am overwhelmed by the choice but cant always try before I buy. I welcome your advice.

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Thanks for the comment. I am endorsed with Ernie ball music man, so that would be the guitar I would recommend. I like the JP15 and Majesty models, also the Jason Richardson models are sweet. Great pickups. You can also do the sterling version, those are a little more affordable but still high quality. But, I would suggest saving a little bit more and going with EBMM models.

[@danielblake1537]

Chuck Schuldiner of the death metal band "Death" also uses harmonic minor often in his solos....I'm having trouble trying to learn how to play like him when it comes to his signature soloing style....fast alternate picking of a lot of notes into one small part....and I realised he mainly uses his first 3 fingers to play when I mainly use my pointer and pinky for power chords he seems to only use his pointer and ring finger but that feels odd to me...playing that way but I want to try and learn how to play through scales smoothly and fast but I just cant seem to get my fingering down right

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

I wouldn't focus too much on what fingers people use. That's just their way. They could have bigger or smaller hands than you and it affects how they approach it. What's really important is that you take the time to train all your fingers equally. I wouldn't limit myself to using only the first 3 fingers.

[@jedi_417]

So…what about if you’re playing in a band with just one guitar, a bass, drums, and singer? Would the harmonic minor still clash on every chord other than that E7?

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Not necessarily. This is just one way to effectively use it. If you were jamming with people, it would be a good idea to listen to the progression and play regular minor when it fits, and harmonic minor when it changes to a dominant chord of some kind. It's a start

[@petrucci22]

Which model your ibby is? It looks so awesome!

[@dm1torres1]

Ibanez J Custom RG30JCLTD. 2017 limited model

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Correct

[@rockman49er]

What is that velcro strap for on the neck 😮

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Fret wrap. Keeps the strings quiet

[@MrAxholio]

This is the problem I have with this kind of explanation. It seems to complicated (scientific). You explain it well, but you make it seem like it can only be used in a certain situation. You said you can only play the harmonic minor scale when an Emaj is played. OR Emaj has to be played if you want to use the harmonic minor scale. I understand what you're saying about the tone sounding off when an Em is played, but there has to be other times when the harmonic minor can be played. right? Can it be played IF there in no E chord at all? Can it be played over any other chords in that scale? Can that 5# be used as a transitory note? I love the tone of this scale. but I don't get the understanding of when I can actually use it.

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

I understand what you're saying. The short answer is you don't HAVE to have the Emaj chord playing to use the harmonic minor scale. In this particular instance, i was showing a very common way that the HM scale is used. This is very helpful to understand why there would need to be a Maj chord vs a Min chord. If you were to utilize the harmonic minor scale and play the diatonic chords of the scale, then technically you can play the harmonic minor scale the whole time. However, most of the time, you're not going to be doing that. In modern music, the HM scale is used when the Dominant 5th chord is being played because it really makes the scale stand out. this doesn't mean that the Emaj chord has to be played at the end of a sequence, it can be played anywhere and the scale will fit. You can also get into chord substitutions as well, where you can take the tri-tone from the dominant chord and move it a minor 3rd in any direction, this would still allow you to use the HM scale in a non-diatonic situation, but sounds awesome on it's own. Hopefully this clears it up a little bit. There are rules, but also you can do whatever you want and if you like the sound of it, then definitely do that. :)

[@trisin]

I don’t understand why we couldn’t play A harmonic minor scale during the A minor window. Sorry I’m stupid

[@johanpuellocalvo2446]

what metal band uses this chord or scale

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

A lot of them

[@peterprinsloo8247]

Zach your fretboard is to busy to follow your fingers. A different guitar would be great.

[@Turboy65]

Natural minor: W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑W‑W (ascending) is the sixth iteration (mode) of the pattern of whole and half notes that defines the seven modes of Western major and minor modal music. The major form is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Where on the pattern of WWHWWWHWWHWWWH you start defines which of those modes you are in. Now relate that to Harmonic minor: W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑3Hs‑H (ascending) is the sixth iteration of the pattern of whole and half steps that defines the seven harmonic minor modes. In this case, the entire sequence of whole and half steps is WHWWH(3Hs)HWHWWH(3Hs)H and where you start on this sequence determines which of the seven Harmonic minor modes you are in. The reason why none of these modes match the Major and Minor modes is because the fundamental pattern of whole and half steps are completely different. Not only because there is no triple half step in the Western modes, but that is part of it. In order to create new modes, and possibly new interesting forms of music, construct your scales from a basic scale formula that is OTHER than WWHWWWHWHWWWH or anywhere within it. It is the order and size of the intervals that is ultimately the signature of that family of musical modes. Where you start and stop on that sequence determines which mode you are in. And you can pick a starting point, and play ANY note there. Use that as your starting point. Create the scale that follows by the pattern of intervals. This is how you may create NEW musical concepts and sounds.

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

👍

[@n.a31214]

3:58 ayo? 🤨🤨

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

🤔🤔🤔

[@MrMurphyum]

8:27 - A minor, C major and D dorian are exactly the same thing, you should know , why confuse those who are not aware of that?!

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

They are from the same parent major scale, but depending on the context, they are not the same thing. Plus they are different parts of the neck, and different patterns. So, we specify them this way.

[@MrMurphyum]

I only wanted to pont out that you spoke about these as if they were 3 different thing. No, they are the same scale, uses the same notes all across the fretboard, the only difference is wich notes to emphasize according the context. For those who didnt learned it yet, what you say, sounds like as if it was 3 different thing. Its 1 thing but 3 different approach. Not heckling, I love you man, I only try to help you make better vids! Peace!

[@randyjohnson5426]

Flatten 6, 7, minor scale...just mumbo jumbo...come on man i just want to play like EVH...im sure he didnt do all this scale business....i just want to shred...do a video on that without music theory.

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Whether he did it that way or not, the facts remain that "mumbo jumbo" is what the foundation of music is all about. He also loved and listened music from other artists and composers that DID think in theory and created a whole world and wealth of knowledge. He used his ear to create what he liked based on what he listened too. I think being able to do both is what makes us well rounded musicians.

[@dumbhuman442]

So boring!!!

[@ZachAdkinsGuitar]

Uhhhhh ok