Harmonic Minor Scale
The harmonic minor scale is so called because in tonal music of the common practice period (from approximately 1600 to approximately 1900) chords or harmonies are derived from it more than from the natural minor scale or the melodic minor scale. The augmented second between its sixth degree and its raised seventh degree (the "leading tone"), traditionally considered undesirable in melodic progression, is avoided by placing these pitches in different voices in adjacent chords, as in this progression: F A♭ D, F G B, F A♭ C (ii°b–V7d–iv in C minor). The A♭ in the middle voice does not ascend to B, and the B in the upper voice does not descend to A♭.
Read more about this topic: Heptatonic Scale
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