Harmonizing Minor scales into chords

Chords can be constructed from scales and it is valuable to know how scales and chords corresponds, not at least when improvising. Here, we look at the Minor Scale and which triads and four-note chords it can be harmonized into. In other words, which chords that can be built from various minor scales.

Triads

A Minor Scale Triads
Tonality Minor Diminished Major Minor Minor Major Major
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes A B C D E F G
Chords Am Bdim C Dm Em F G
Notes in chord A-C-E B-D-F C-E-G D-F-A E-G-B F-A-C G-B-D
A# / Bb Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes A# B# C# D# E# F# G#
Chords A#m B#dim C# D#m E#m F# G#
Notes in chord A#-C#-E# B#-D#-F# C#-E#-G# D#-F#-A# E#-G#-B# F#-A#-C# G#-B#-D#
B Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes B C# D E F# G A
Chords Bm C#dim D Em F#m G A
Notes in chord B-D-F# C#-E-F D-F#-A E-G-B F#-A-C# G-B-D A-C#-E
C Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes C D Eb F G Ab Bb
Chords Cm Ddim Eb Fm Gm Ab Bb
Notes in chord C-Eb-G D-F-Ab Eb-G-Bb F-Ab-C G-Bb-D Ab-C-Eb Bb-D-F
C# / Db Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes C# D# E F# G# A B
Chords C#m D#dim E F#m G#m A B
Notes in chord C#-E-G# D#-F#-A E-G#-B F#-A-C# G-B-D# A-C#-E B-D#-F#
D Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes D E F G A Bb C
Chords Dm Edim F Gm Am Bb C
Notes in chord D-F-A E-G-Bb F-A-C G-Bb-D A-C-E Bb-D-F C-E-G
D# / Eb Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes D# E# F# G# A# B C#
Chords D#m E#dim F# G#m A#m B C#
Notes in chord D#-F#-A# E#-G#-B F#-A#-C# G#-B-D# A#-C#-E# B-D#-F# C#-E#-G#
E Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes E F# G A B C D
Chords Em F#dim G Am Bm C D
Notes in chord E-G-B F#-A-C G-B-D A-C-E B-D-F# C-E-G D-F#-A
F Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes F G Ab Bb C Db Eb
Chords Fm Gdim Ab Bbm Cm Db Eb
Notes in chord F-Ab-C G-Bb-Db Ab-C-Eb Bb-Db-F C-Eb-G Db-F-Ab Eb-G-Bb
F# / Gb Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes F# G# A B C# D E
Chords F#m G#dim A Bm C#m D E
Notes in chord F#-A-C# G#-B-D A-C#-E B-D-F# C#-E-G# D-F#-A E-G#-B
G Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes G A Bb C D Eb F
Chords Gm Adim Bb Cm Dm Eb F
Notes in chord G-Bb-D A-C-Eb Bb-D-F C-Eb-G D-F-A Eb-G-Bb F-A-C
G# / Ab Minor Scale Triads
Degrees i ii° III iv v VI VII
Notes G# A# B C# D# E F#
Chords G#m A#dim B C#m D#m E F#
Notes in chord G#-B-D# A#-C#-E B-D#-F# C#-E-G# D#-F#-A# E-G#-B F#-A#-C#

Four-note chords

A Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes A B C D E F G
Chords Am7 Bø Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7
Notes in chord A-C-E-G B-D-F-A C-E-G-B D-F-A-C E-G-B-D F-A-C-E G-B-D-F
A# / Bb Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes A# B# C# D# E# F# G#
Chords A#m7 B#ø C#maj7 D#m7 E#m7 F#maj7 G#7
Notes in chord A#-C#-E#-G# B#-D#-F#-A# C#-E#-G#-B# D#-F#-A#-C# E#-G#-B#-D# F#-A#-C#-E# G#-B#-D#-F#
B Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes B C# D E F# G A
Chords Bm7 Cø Dmaj7 Em7 F#m7 Gmaj7 A7
Notes in chord B-D-F#-A C#-E-G-B D-F#-A-C# E-G-B-D F#-A-C#-E G-B-D-F# A-C#-E-G
C Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes C D Eb F G Ab Bb
Chords Cm7 Dø Ebmaj7 Fm7 Gm7 Abmaj7 Bb7
Notes in chord C-Eb-G-Bb D-F-Ab-C Eb-G-Bb-D F-Ab-C-Eb G-Bb-D-F Ab-C-Eb-G Bb-D-F-Ab
C# / Db Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes C# D# E F# G# A B
Chords C#m7 D#ø Emaj7 F#m7 G#m7 Amaj7 B7
Notes in chord C#-E-G#-B D#-F#-A-C# E-G#-B-D# F#-A-C#-E G#-B-D#-F# A-C#-E-G# B-D#-F#-A
D Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes D E F G A Bb C
Chords Dm7 Eø Fmaj7 Gm7 Am7 Bbmaj7 C7
Notes in chord D-F-A-C E-G-Bb-D F-A-C-E G-Bb-D-F A-C-E-G Bb-D-F-A C-E-G-Bb
D# / Eb Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes D# E# F# G# A# B C#
Chords D#m7 E#ø F#maj7 G#m7 A#m7 Bmaj7 C#7
Notes in chord D#-F#-A#-C# E#-G#-B-D# F#-A#-C#-E# G#-B-D#-F# A#-C#-E#-G# B-D#-F#-A# C#-E#-G#-B
E Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes E F# G A B C D
Chords Em7 F#ø Gmaj7 Am7 Bm7 Cmaj7 D7
Notes in chord E-G-B-D F#-A-C-E G-B-D-E A-C-E-G B-D-F#-A C-E-G-B D-F#-A-C
F Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes F G Ab Bb C Db Eb
Chords Fm7 Gø Abmaj7 Bbm7 Cm7 Dbmaj7 Eb7
Notes in chord F-Ab-C-Eb G-Bb-Db-F Ab-C-Eb-F Bb-Db-F-Ab C-Eb-G-Bb Db-F-Ab-C Eb-G-Bb-Db
F# / Gb Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes F# G# A B C# D E
Chords F#m7 G#ø Amaj7 Bm7 C#m7 Dmaj7 E7
Notes in chord F#-A-C#-E G#-B-D-F# A-C#-E-F# B-D-F#-A C#-E-G#-B D-F#-A-C# E-G#-B-D
G Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes G A Bb C D Eb F
Chords Gm7 Aø Bbmaj7 Cm7 Dm7 Ebmaj7 F7
Notes in chord G-Bb-D-F A-C-Eb-G Bb-D-F-G C-Eb-G-Bb Db-F-A-C Eb-G-Bb-D F-A-C-Eb
G# /Ab Minor Scale Four-note chords
Degrees im7 iiø IIImaj7 ivm7 vm7 VImaj7 VII7
Notes G# A# B C# D# E F#
Chords G#m7 A#ø Bmaj7 C#m7 D#m7 Emaj7 F#7
Notes in chord G#-B-D#-F# A#-C#-E-G# B-D#-F#-G# C#-E-G#-B D-F#-A#-C# E-G#-B-D# F#-A#-C#-E

Musical notation are available in the member area.
The Minor scale in all keys harmonized in three and four-note chords for left and right hand can be downloaded as a PDF-files.

Playing through scales with arpeggios

Playing examples that show how scales can be harmonized into chords as arpeggios.

Pdf and sound
E minor scale with arpeggios pdf




B minor scale with arpeggios pdf




C minor scale with arpeggios pdf

Understanding the table and its symbols

Some explanation of the information in the tables above.

Degrees: Referring to the relations of the notes in the scale on a general basis. The Roman numerals are explained below.
Notes: Simply referring to the notes in the particular scale.
Chords: Referring to the chord with the same tonic as the note.
Notes in chord: Simply referring to the notes belonging to the chord.
Roman numerals: Roman numerals indicate chord groups. Uppercase Roman numerals represent major chords while lowercase Roman numerals represent minor chords.
°: The degree symbol represents diminished (dim).
Ø: This symbol represents a half-diminished chord.

Notes

In the key of C sharp minor, E#m is included as a chord. This is in practice an Fm, but is given the name E#m since mentioning the same letter (F in this case) should be avoided.

Finally, the presented chord categories don't not include all chords that can be constructed from the Minor Scale. Suspended and added chords are two of the other possibilities.