About the C Bebop Harmonic Minor scale
C 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 C Bebop Minor with the sixth lowered.
Its notes are C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, and B. The formula is W H W W H W H H. It is the seventh mode of E♭ Bebop Major.
Also called Bebop Natural Minor and Utility Minor.
D, G, and B are open guitar strings that sit inside this mode, ready to drone under a riff. The 3rd fret of the A string is the lowest C on the neck. C Bebop Harmonic Minor sits in true open position, with a complete octave of the scale inside the first three frets.
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.
Notes and intervals
| 1 | CC | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | DD | Major 2nd |
| 3 | EbE♭ | Minor 3rd |
| 4 | FF | Perfect 4th |
| 5 | GG | Perfect 5th |
| 6 | AbA♭ | Minor 6th |
| 7 | BbB♭ | Minor 7th |
| 8 | BB | Major 7th |
| Steps | W H W W H W H H |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 2-1-2-2-1-2-1-1 |
| Degrees | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Bebop Harmonic Minor in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.
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