Chord Colors

B♭ Bebop Harmonic Minor scale

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About the B flat Bebop Harmonic Minor scale

B flat Bebop Harmonic Minor is used for bebop solos over minor chords. Think of it as a harmonic minor with a chromatic passing tone on top. It is B Bebop Minor with the sixth lowered.

Its notes are B, C, D, E, F, G, A, and A. The formula is W H W W H W H H. It is the seventh mode of D Bebop Major.

Also called Bebop Natural Minor and Utility Minor.

In B Bebop Harmonic Minor, the open string sounds A. Down at the 1st fret of the A string lies the lowest B a guitar can play. Placed at the first fret, a capo lets B Bebop Harmonic Minor be played with A-shape fingerings.

Positions

Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.

8-position system

8 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.

Position 1fr 1
Position 2fr 2
Position 3fr 4
Position 4fr 5
Position 5fr 6
Position 6fr 8
Position 7fr 9
Position 8fr 11

Notes and intervals

1BbB♭Root
2CCMajor 2nd
3DbD♭Minor 3rd
4EbE♭Perfect 4th
5FFPerfect 5th
6GbG♭Minor 6th
7AbA♭Minor 7th
8AAMajor 7th
StepsW H W W H W H H
Semitones2-1-2-2-1-2-1-1
Degrees1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Bebop Harmonic Minor in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

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Bb Bebop Harmonic Minor scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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