Aeolian (Natural Minor)

The notes

B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A, then B — in the natural form. The A is the seventh and sits a whole tone below the tonic, which is why the harmonic minor raises it to A♯ when a stronger pull is wanted.

The scale shares every note with D major. Songs that alternate between Bm and D are not changing key; they are moving the centre while the notes stay where they are.

The relationship also works in reverse: a song that starts on D and ends on Bm has darkened without a single note leaving the key, which is why the pair is used so often to separate a chorus from a verse.

On the fretboard

The open B string and the open E and A all belong to the scale, so first-position playing works even though the tonic chord does not. The movable shape from the seventh fret with the root on the low E is the more useful form for solos.

The chords are Bm, C♯ diminished, D, Em, F♯m, G, A. Three barres, but two of them — Bm and F♯m — use the standard shapes, and the rest are open.

Where it is used

Folk, rock and a great deal of singer-songwriter material. Bm–G–D–A is one of the most played progressions on the instrument, and every chord in it comes from this scale.

It is also common in Irish and Scottish traditional music, where the fiddle’s open strings support it as well as the guitar’s do.