The melodic minor scale is a minor scale with a major top half: the b3 of minor plus the natural 6 and 7 of major. It sounds smooth, bittersweet and a little mysterious, and it's the minor sound of jazz.
Formula
The reference key is A melodic minor, the key the diagrams below use.
| Degree | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | A | B | C | D | E | F# | G# |
Steps: W H W W W W H. Compared with A major, only the 3rd changes (C# becomes C).
This is the jazz form, the same going up and down. In classical music the scale comes down as natural minor (G and F natural), so the raised 6 and 7 only appear on the way up.
Sound and character
The bottom half (A B C D) is minor; the top half (E F# G# A) is major. The G# leads strongly into A, and without the b6 there's no exotic gap like in harmonic minor, so lines sound smooth and modern rather than dark.
Where it's used
Jazz, fusion, film and game scores, and progressive rock. Play it over the minor chords natural minor can't cover: Am(maj7), Am6 and Am6/9. The chords built from it are Am(maj7) (i), Bm7 (ii), Cmaj7#5 (bIII), D7 (IV7), E7 (V7), F#m7b5 (vi) and G#m7b5 (vii). Two dominant chords, D7 and E7, are what make it so useful in minor-key jazz.
How to move it
The root is the amber dot. To change key, slide every pattern until the amber dots land on the new root. Move everything up 2 frets for B melodic minor, or down 2 frets for G melodic minor.
The exercises
- Position 1 from the low A, up to the high C and back. Watch the F# on the D string: it's a reach back with your index.
- Over an open A on every beat, a line from C down to E and back up through F# and G# to A.
Melodic minor is harmonic minor with a raised 6th, or the major scale with a b3.