Changing the order of the intervals is not the only thing we can do to alter a scale and its sound, we could actually change one of the intervals and make it bigger, so let’s take the minor scale and move the 7th degree up one semitone.
Minor Scale
Altered Scale
That minor third interval looks weird, will it also sound strange?
Starting from A and applying the new formula, we need to add a G# to a ‘normal’ A minor scale: the resulting sound is almost classical, maybe a bit Spanish.
We will call this new kind of scale ‘Harmonic Minor’, a scale quite popular with guitarists in many different styles and we will see how it generates the Diminished chord when we will talk about building chords from scales.
We can also concentrate on the VII - VIII interval and consider the Harmonic scale a minor scale with a Major 7th and this can help us visualize its shape on the fretboard.
Compare the two shapes on the fretboard: the Major 7th (in this case G#) is represented by dark dots.
Minor Scale
Harmonic Minor Scale
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