You Must Love The Chords
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Neither g'day or good evening, but rather good life and prosperity!
 
This day we discuss the construction and performance of the chords formed in the key of A harmonic minor. We'll then compose a short, four bar repeating form over which to improvise a melody.
 
First the scale itself. Harmonic minor, no matter the key, is formed when you take a natural minor scale, in this case A natural minor...
 
A B C D E F G A
 
And raise the 7th scale degree
 
A B C D E F G# A
 
From here, we build chords off of each note in the scale. Please be aware that the chords listed below are but a few of the seemingly infinite possibilities!
 

 
In the example given in the vid, I have composed my progression with two things in mind: Tension and Resolve. The Ami chord that I begin with provides a foundation that the progression will cycle back around to. The second chord, Fmaj7, shares two of the notes of Ami and may be regarded as a means to break away from the Ami without causing too much unrest in the progression. The third chord, E7, which is the dominant chord in this key, has a natural tendency to pull back to the i chord [Ami] but instead it deceptively moves to Dmi and then back to Ami. Everyone is going to approach things in their own way, so my only real advice is to be creative!
 
Please consult your fingerboard for the notes in A Harmonic Minor! They are still, in fact, A B C D E F G# A. As long as you subscribe to this set of pitches, no matter where you play them, art will happen.
 
Pea[r]ce be with you!
 
 

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