How to play the D Harmonic Minor guitar scale

The D Harmonic Minor scale is a harmonic minor scale which means it has the following definition:

R 2 b3 4 5 b6 7

The Harmonic Minor scale has the same notes as the natural minor scale except that the 7th degree is a semitone higher. This means you can build the harmonic minor scale from the major scale by lowering the 3rd and 6th degrees. The 7th degree is only a semitone below the tonic or root note and acts as a leading tone to the tonic, creating a stronger harmonic pull to the root when compared to the natural minor scale.

Which notes are in the D Harmonic Minor guitar scale?

The notes in the D Harmonic Minor scale are:

D E F G A Bb C# D

There are 7 notes in the scale with 1 flat and 1 sharp.

What are the intervals in the D Harmonic Minor Guitar Scale?

The scale definition for the D Harmonic Minor guitar scale is R 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 which means that the interval formula for the scale in semitones is:

2 1 2 2 1 3 1

You can also write this as note intervals:

Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone and a half Semitone

The D Harmonic Minor Guitar Scale on the fretboard

Let's take a look at D Harmonic Minor on the guitar fretboard. Here is the scale across the entire fretboard:

D Harmonic Minor Guitar Scale Recap

Here is a quick recap of all the information about the D Harmonic Minor covered in this page:

• The D Harmonic Minor Scale is a harmonic minor scale.

• The definition of the D Harmonic Minor scale is: R 2 b3 4 5 b6 7

• The notes in the D Harmonic Minor guitar scale are: D E F G A Bb C# D

• The interval formula for the D Harmonic Minor scale is: 2 1 2 2 1 3 1

• The note intervals in the D Harmonic Minor scale are: Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone and a half Semitone