Lesson 54: Harmony

Major Scale Harmony

Major scale harmony stems from the major scale. Build four-part chords in thirds using the major scale and you get:

Check out my diatonic chords lesson hand-out or transparency.

Harmonic Minor Scale Harmony

Now let's look at the harmonic minor scale. Build four-part chords in thirds using the harmonic minor scale and you get:

Melodic Minor ( Jazz Minor) Scale Harmony

Now let's look at the melodic minor scale. Build four-part chords in thirds using the melodic minor scale and you get:

Some very interesting chords that can be built using the melodic minor scale in thirds and some clusters are:

Now, here are a couple of interesting and important chord types! Check out the modes of the melodic minor ( Jazz Minor) scale in lesson 55.

Recommended Reading

For an extensive workout on these harmonical concepts, check out

• the Mr. Goodchord’s Almanac of Guitar Voice-Leading for the Year 2001 and Beyond books by Mick Goodrick
• The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine

© 2005 Tomas Karlsson. All rights reserved.