I'm fairly new to music, I've had no actual theory lessons and have only recently started piano, but since the beginning I was aware of major and minor scales. I was under the impression that there were three minor scales: natural, harmonic and melodic, with natural being the same as Aeolian. However, both my piano teacher and a couple of my more musical friends claim that natural minor isn't actually a scale, and that it is just descending melodic minor. Is natural minor actually a technical scale, or is it just a simplification that isn't used classically?
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The only national minor I know of is Hungarian minor ;)– Bob says reinstate MonicaMay 9, 2017 at 10:12
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'Natural minor' is certainly a scale. But it isn't one that is required in the piano Grade exams. Maybe that's what your teacher meant.– LaurenceFeb 3, 2018 at 13:27
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@LaurencePayne - ABRSM 'discovered' the natural minor scale about 7 yrs ago. They offer it as an alternative in lower grades.– TimDec 16, 2020 at 13:29
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4 Answers
It is technically and officially a scale. Has been recognised as such by examining boards, and used in their scale sections of exams. Yes, it is the same as the descending classical melodic minor - but there's also the jazz melodic which uses the ascending notes both up and down.
Incidentally, it is also called a mode. The Aeolian mode. Made up from the same notes as the Ionian mode/ major scale, but centring on the 6th note of that major scale. Enlighten teacher and friends!
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I mean, like you said, Major is also a mode - Ionian. So something can be a mode and a scale. May 12, 2017 at 3:35
Natural minor is definitely a scale!
With that said, you ask if it's "just a simplification that isn't used classically." In my opinion, the distinction between the three (and more) forms of minor is a huge oversimplification. Sure, occasionally you'll get nursery rhymes that completely fit in natural minor, but more complex music will rarely fit perfectly in any of the three forms of minor. Instead, the music of Bach and Brahms and Scarlatti (and so on) use elements of all forms.
So, again: natural minor is definitely a scale. But when it comes down to it, all of these forms of minor are simplifications.
Technically out of a classical harmony point of view, the natural minor refers to the descending form of the melodic minor scale and is not a scale as we would typically call it.
When modernist talk about the natural minor scale they are reffering to what is actually the aeolian mode, the confusion is natural though.
answered May 9, 2017 at 13:44
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Check with ABRSM, who, only a few years ago, began including teh natural minor as an optional scale in at least the early grades on piano. Yes, it is the Aeolian mode, rather like the major scale is the Ionian mode. No real confusion.– TimMay 9, 2017 at 16:42
it's literally called Aeolian mode of its relative major scale
so yes natural minor is a scale, a version of the major to be precise.
