Ok, David. The Harmonic minor is pretty much just another scale; it really doesn’t have an exact purpose, or a right or wrong way to use it. Although most people use this scale when they are trying to harmonize with a melody in a minor (or melodic minor) scale, thus the reason it is called the harmonic minor. Sort of like vocal harmony, one person sings a melody, and another person harmonizes with it. This is the basic use for this scale cause it is based on the harmonic intervals of the minor scale. Well I hope this helps.