Melodic Minor

1-2-♭3-4-5-6-7, ascending and descending, twelve keys

The melodic minor scale is the major scale with a flattened third. C melodic minor: C D E♭ F G A B C. The 6 and 7 stay natural — that's what distinguishes it from natural minor (which lowers the 6 and 7 as well). Jazz uses this single ascending form in both directions.

It is the most generative scale in modern jazz: its modes give you the altered scale, the lydian dominant, the locrian ♮2, and the dorian ♭2. The home chord is m6 or m(maj7) — the m6 carries the scale's natural 6, the m(maj7) its natural 7; between them, both defining notes. Hear the natural 7 leading up to the tonic; that's the resolution that makes it work as a minor key.

Now 2 octaves, both hands — the same pattern extended up and back with fingering marked above every note in each hand.

The intervals

1 – 2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7. Major scale, flat 3.

Home chord

m6 (carries the 6) or m(maj7) (carries the 7). Between them, both defining notes.

Cm minor

Fm minor

B♭m minor

E♭m minor

A♭m minor

D♭m minor

F♯m minor

Bm minor

Em minor

Am minor

Dm minor

Gm minor

The Daily Drill

Hear the natural 7

3 minPlay one key with a metronome. The whole point is that B (the 7) resolves up to C (the tonic) — the same leading-tone pull as a major key, but on a minor home chord.
8 minCycle three keys. The fingering for key 1 is shown above; for other keys, transfer the same 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 shape, adjusting where the thumb falls to avoid black keys.
3 minImprovise over a Cm6 vamp using only melodic minor notes. The natural 6 (A) and natural 7 (B) give the scale its bright, restless quality — they want to keep moving.
4 minCompare: play natural minor (b6 and b7) for 8 bars, then melodic minor for 8 bars. Same i chord underneath. The mode change should be unmistakable.

Why one scale generates so much vocabulary

Each of the seven modes of melodic minor is a usable jazz scale in its own right: mode 1 = melodic minor (over m6/m(maj7)), mode 2 = dorian ♭2 (over sus♭9), mode 3 = lydian augmented (over maj7♯5), mode 4 = lydian dominant (over 7♯11), mode 5 = mixolydian ♭6 (over 7♭13), mode 6 = locrian ♮2 (over ø7), mode 7 = altered (over 7alt). Practicing the parent scale fluently in all twelve keys gives you all seven modal flavours simultaneously — you just shift the tonic.

One scale, seven modes, the whole modern-jazz toolkit. Learn the parent and the children come free.

80 bpm

Sound