A melodic minor scale

7 notes · a ♭3 with a natural 6th and 7th

A major scale with a flat third and nothing else changed. It gives a minor key a dominant without the augmented step of harmonic minor, and four of its own modes are the standard jazz answers to chords the major scale has nothing for: the sus♭9 off the 2nd, the maj7♯5 off the 3rd, the 7♯11 off the 4th and the altered scale off the 7th.

Heard in: Jazz from bebop onward; the tonic minor of a standard.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantlydian augmentedalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of A melodic minor

The whole scale. Choose a chord below and this row will show which of these notes it uses.

A
1
B
2
C
♭3
D
4
E
5
F#
6
G#
7
357912155, E string fret 056, E string fret 267, E string fret 471, E string fret 512, E string fret 72♭3, E string fret 8♭34, E string fret 1045, E string fret 1256, E string fret 1461, A string fret 012, A string fret 22♭3, A string fret 3♭34, A string fret 545, A string fret 756, A string fret 967, A string fret 1171, A string fret 1212, A string fret 142♭3, A string fret 15♭34, D string fret 045, D string fret 256, D string fret 467, D string fret 671, D string fret 712, D string fret 92♭3, D string fret 10♭34, D string fret 1245, D string fret 1457, G string fret 171, G string fret 212, G string fret 42♭3, G string fret 5♭34, G string fret 745, G string fret 956, G string fret 1167, G string fret 1371, G string fret 1412, B string fret 02♭3, B string fret 1♭34, B string fret 345, B string fret 556, B string fret 767, B string fret 971, B string fret 1012, B string fret 122♭3, B string fret 13♭34, B string fret 1545, e string fret 056, e string fret 267, e string fret 471, e string fret 512, e string fret 72♭3, e string fret 8♭34, e string fret 1045, e string fret 1256, e string fret 146
15 frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

The chords in A melodic minor

Take every other note of the scale and you have a chord. Do it from each degree in turn and you have the key. Each row below is that stack, and the letters in it say what each scale note becomes in that chord — so the C of the scale is the 3rd of one chord, the 5th of another and the root of a third. Choose a row to see it on the neck.

Each chord of A melodic minor, and which notes of the scale it takes
DegreeChord
A
1
B
2
C
♭3
D
4
E
5
F#
6
G#
7
iR·3·5·7
ii7R·3·5·
♭III+·7R·3·5
IV5·7R·3·
V·5·7R·3
vi°3·5·7R·
vii°·3·5·7R

Every note of the scale appears in four of these chords, and every chord shares three of its four notes with the chord a third away from it. That overlap is why one can be substituted for another.

What to play A melodic minor over

The chords on A whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over AmMaj11 there is nothing in A melodic minor that can sound wrong.

AmMaj11Am69AmMaj9Asus2sus4Am6AmMaj7Amadd9AmAsus2Asus4A5

Modes of this scale

Same notes, different home. Which one you are in is decided by the chord underneath, not by the notes.

A lydian dominantA lydian augmentedA altered

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode