B♭ harmonic minor scale (A♯ harmonic minor)
B♭ harmonic minor scale is B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭ – A, with B♭, D♭, E♭ and G♭. Formula 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7. Hit play and watch it light up on both instruments.
B♭ harmonic minor scale, note by note
From B♭ upward the gaps are W H W W H W+H H (W = whole step, H = half step, W+H = a step and a half). The half steps fall between C–D♭, F–G♭ and A–B♭. The wide step is G♭–A.
| Degree | Note | Interval from B♭ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B♭ | root | |
| 2 | C | major second | |
| ♭3 | D♭ | minor third | |
| 4 | E♭ | perfect fourth | |
| 5 | F | perfect fifth | |
| ♭6 | G♭ | minor sixth | |
| 7 | A | major seventh |
The sound of B♭ harmonic minor scale
The raised 7th (A) is the whole point of harmonic minor: it lets B♭ minor end songs with a strong major V chord pulling home. Played as a melody, that step-and-a-half jump is the sound people call "Middle Eastern" or "neoclassical".
Stack thirds on the 5th degree and you get F, a major chord in a minor key; F to B♭m is the cadence this scale exists for. The 7th degree gives Adim, which pulls up to B♭ the same way.
Compared with B♭ natural minor scale, B♭ harmonic minor scale has A where the other has A♭; the other six notes are shared. Hear B♭ natural minor scale and compare.
Where your hands go
B♭, D♭, E♭ and G♭ are on black keys; the rest are white.
On guitar the root sits at the 6th fret of the low E string. The box above covers frets 4–10 and holds 18 notes of the scale across all six strings; play it low string to high.
Chords built on each note
Stack every other note of the scale on each degree and you get 7 chords. These are the chords that fit B♭ harmonic minor scale; the ones that differ from the major set are what give the scale its color. Tap to hear each one.
B♭ harmonic minor scale across the fretboard
The root, B♭, sits at fret 6 on the low E string and 1 and 13 on the A string. Work up the neck in five positions (low E string frets 1, 3, 6, 8 and 11) and you'll have it everywhere. On guitar, the three-fret leap between the 6th and 7th notes is the stretch to practise on its own.
On the piano, B♭ harmonic minor scale uses 4 black keys (B♭, D♭, E♭ and G♭) and 3 white.
A good drill once the scale is under your fingers: play it in thirds, skipping one note each time. Here that's B♭–D♭, C–E♭, D♭–F, E♭–G♭, F–A, G♭–B♭, A–C.
Three ways to practise B♭ harmonic minor
Running a scale straight up and down only teaches the order. These patterns use the same 7 notes and train your ear and fingers to jump around inside B♭ harmonic minor scale.
- Groups of three: B♭ C D♭ · C D♭ E♭ · D♭ E♭ F · E♭ F G♭ · F G♭ A · G♭ A B♭.
- Target A: B♭ A B♭ A B♭: the raised 7th, a step and a half above the ♭6, gives the scale its exotic leap.
Try next, from B♭
Harmonic minor scale in every key
B♭ harmonic minor scale: questions
What are the notes of the B♭ harmonic minor scale?
B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A, B♭. As degrees: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7.
How many sharps or flats are in the B♭ harmonic minor scale?
Four: B♭, D♭, E♭ and G♭.
What chords are in the B♭ harmonic minor scale?
Stacking thirds on each note gives B♭m (i), Cdim (ii°), D♭aug (III+), E♭m (iv), F (V), G♭ (VI) and Adim (vii°).
What's the difference between B♭ harmonic minor scale and B♭ natural minor scale?
A in B♭ harmonic minor; A♭ in the other. Everything else is the same.
Notes and fingering generated from the scale formula and checked automatically against the step pattern. Updated September 2026.