All of the modes you have learned so far have been derived from the major scale, even if some of them have a minor sound. The Aeolian mode is also called the natural minor scale and can be played against many minor key chord progressions.
There are two other important minor scales which are commonly used in many styles of music. These are the harmonic minor and the melodic minor. These two scales are dealt with in this section. First let’s take a look at the harmonic minor scale. The following example shows the C harmonic minor scale over one octave in the open position. Listen carefully to the sound of the scale as you play and try to memorise it. Learning any scale becomes easier once you have the sound of it in your memory.