Estimated reading time 5 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Have you learned how to sight sing natural minor melodies, but want to be able to sing harmonic minor too? I can help. Read more to learn about singing shape note harmonic minor melodies.
We have previously gone over shape note solfege in the major and natural minor modes. This post, you will learn the harmonic minor mode.
If you need to review the shape note basics read:
For a discussion of rhythm see:
This post uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the article.
The G Harmonic Minor Scale and Singing Shape Note Harmonic Minor Melodies
Singing the scale
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
G Harmonic Minor Scale:
If you need a refresher, see the posts:
- In the harmonic minor mode, the seventh note becomes a sharp. This means that the F turns into an F sharp (F#). In G minor, F gets the solfege syllable Sol. When Sol gets sharped, it becomes the syllable See.
- Try singing the shape note harmonic minor scale above. I have given you a sing-along track to help get the sound of the mode in your ear.
- Listen carefully to the distance between the melody notes as this will train you to sing minor melodies in tune. The tracks have specially selected tunings to help develop good melodic intonation.
- The song tracks use synthetic voices rather than actual voices. Research has shown that this will help with the ability to identify and produce absolute pitch information. For more information, read Why Use a Synth Voice Instead of Real Voices.
The Light Version of the Harmonic Minor Scale Theory
- Notice that we do not include the sharp in the key signature. When the notes of the minor scale go La-to-La without any accidentals, we call this the natural minor.
- The theorists started to sharp the seventh note of scale, because it let them change one of the chords to make a stronger chord progression. Not all of the possible chords in the minor mode need the F sharp, so it only gets sharped when needed.
- You can see this in the carol “Puer Natus in Bethlehem” below. The Medieval carol does not sharp the seventh note, so I added this to my version. However, not all of the harmonies needed the syllable See, so sometimes you sing the seventh note as Sol and other times as See.
- When the seventh note gets sharped (above), it makes the minor mode sound a little like Middle Eastern Music. In fact, there is a scale from the Middle East that sounds like the harmonic minor mode. However, it gets tuned differently than the Western scale. Nevertheless, it sounds close enough that people hear them as the same basic scale.
- In the Middle East, they think this scale is just as natural as the Western natural minor scale. Therefore, the term “natural minor” reveals more about Western ideas about music more than anything else.
- In other words, Western theorists thought of the sharp as something added to change a minor chord into a dominant chord. So, to them, the natural minor was the default scale to which the sharp got added for harmonic reasons. Thus, the name “harmonic minor” describes the scale’s design as the version of the minor mode with a sharped seventh.
Singing Shape Note Harmonic Minor Melodies: Puer Natus in Bethlehem
Puer Natus in Bethlehem:
- We’ll pick up where we left off with the carol “Puer Natus in Bethlehem.” In this post you will sing the whole song, so the melody includes what you sang in the last sight singing post.
- Singing the shape note harmonic minor scale before you attempt the song helps you orient your ear to the harmonic minor mode.
- Don’t forget to chant the rhythmic syllables above each note in the sheet music. Also, remember to sing the solfege syllables under each note.
- For fun, I have included an English language version of the song, though it sounds somewhat different than my rendering.
Puer Natus in Bethlehem Video
Singing Shape Note Harmonic Minor Melodies: Quiz
Try the quiz after you have gotten “Puer Natus in Bethlehem” down. As in past sight singing posts, chant the rhythmic syllables first. After which you can try sight singing the shape note harmonic minor melody.
Concluding Thoughts on Singing Shape Note Harmonic Minor Melodies
- Shape notes make it easier to read minor melodies. This helps any singer, but remains a critical factor when teaching special needs, ADD, LD, and autistic singers. Teachers can add shape notes to their multisensory plans to help their students achieve success.
- Singing in the shape note harmonic minor mode helps you sing an even wider range of styles. Therefore, regular practice with the sing-along songs will help you memorize how the harmonic minor mode sounds.
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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Glossary
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