These scales are considered the minor scales:
natural: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 harmonic: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 melodic: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 (ascending)
However, this scale:
4th min: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
is referred to as the Dorian mode, but not as a minor scale. Is there a reason, besides maybe that it isn't used as often as the other three, for not giving it a name like, say, the sardonic minor scale? Is there something inherent in this scale that doesn't lend itself to minor harmony?
Wikipedia states that:
[The Dorian mode] may be considered an "excerpt" of a major scale played from the pitch a whole tone above the major scale's tonic , i.e., a major scale played from its second scale degree up to its second degree again. The resulting scale is, however, minor in quality (...)
So if it is a scale that is "minor in quality", why is it not the fourth minor scale?
To be clear: I'm not so much concerned with this scale not having a name, but rather with the absence of a name implying that it isn't a useful scale. If you have a minor scale with a flat 6 and 7, a minor scale with a natural 6 and 7, and a minor scale with a flat 6 and natural 7, why not have one with a natural 6 and a flat 7? Why is this scale so useless that you wouldn't even bother to label it?