Hi, Jack. "scales in minor keys used one set of notes when ascending and a different set when descending"

That was just in some music of the Romantic era - Chopin, Debussy and them.

My piano teacher told me there were three minors - the melodic, the harmonic, and the romantic. Since the first two name convey nothing to me, I call them the 1) "ordinary" and 2) the "erotic" or "belly-dance," depending on my mood.

If you take the C scale, the ordinary minor based on it is:

A B C D E F G A

The erotic is:

A B C D E F G# A

It's amazing what that G# does to people.

I've quit thinking about the romantic minor. To me, it's just another thing that makes romantic music so muddy. Others are free to differ with me, of course.