The Melodic Minor Scale
Submitted by Alex on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 13:20
This scale is used a lot in Jazz. It\'s a great way to add a slightly different sound to a minor chord. (or other chords, if you use various melodic minor modes)
This scale is only different from the Dorian mode by 1 note. (7th is sharpened)
Another way to think about this scale is as C Major, but the 3rd is dropped by a semitone, making it minor.
Choose a way to think about this scale, such as C Major with flat 3, or C Dorian with sharp 7th. Either way can work. Then just memorize where the changed note is from the original major scale.
As you can see, just like the Harmonic Minor scale, this scale is again only different from the vanilla major scale by just 1 note. It\'s an easy and cheap way to memorize a whole new scale (with it\'s own modes), by simply memorizing where a difference of 1 note lies.
Figure out the modes by playing the C melodic minor scale over C, D, Eb, F, G, A, and B
The mode names are:
Melodic Minor (1st mode)
Dorian flat 2 (2nd mode)
Lydian Augmented (3rd mode)
Lydian flat 7 (4th mode)
Mixolydian sharp 13 (5th mode)
Locrian sharp 2 (6th mode)
Super Locrian (7th mode)
The Melodic Minor scale
Melodic Minor (1st mode)
Dorian flat 2 (2nd mode)
Lydian Augmented (3rd mode)
Lydian flat 7 (4th mode)
Mixolydian sharp 13 (5th mode)
Locrian sharp 2 (6th mode)
Super Locrian (7th mode)