E Harmonic Minor — Cavaquinho

E Harmonic Minor is 7 notes to the octave (common family), drawn here across the Cavaquinho's DGBD strings with every E marked, so home stays visible from anywhere in the pattern.

Dark and dramatic. The raised 7th pulls hard toward the tonic, and the wide step from the b6 up to it gives the scale an exotic, almost Middle-Eastern tension.

Heard in: Classical minor-key harmony, neoclassical metal (Yngwie Malmsteen), flamenco-tinged rock, klezmer, and Balkan melodies.

Four strings tuned DGBD put a scale somewhere honest and a little cramped: two or three notes to a string, no spare string to hide on, and every open pair climbing rather than doubling back. These maps mark every root so the top voice never loses home mid-run.

Practise it as a fill, not a ladder: pick four of its notes, drop them into the rests of a batida cell, then slide the same four to the next position. That is how this instrument actually uses a scale — a top voice riding above the chop, not a run played alone.