February Music Blog

The Melodic Minor Scale

I will be discussing the melodic minor scale today. There are three types of minor scales. There is the natural minor scale the harmonic minor scale and the melodic minor scale. The melodic minor differs from the natural minor scale as it has a raised 6th and 7th degree. For example the a harmonic minor scale would be A, B, C, D, E, F# and G#. In classical theory the 6th and the 7th are raised on the way up the scale and then Made natural on the way down. If you talk to someone is the jazz realm they will tell you that you keep the raised 6th and 7th both ascending and descending when playing this scale.

How Uses the Melodic Minor Scale

You will hear the melodic minor scale used primarily in classical and jazz music. It has a dissonant sound so you really won’t hear it in popular music. Composers frequently require the lowered 7th degree found in the natural minor in order to avoid the augmented triad (III⁺) that arises in the ascending form of the scale. In jazz, only the ascending form of the scale is usually used.

Please feel free to contact us and come in for a music lesson to learn all about the melodic minor scale and anything else pertaining to music from one of our great instructor at the Colorado School of Music in Golden CO. 

Thanks for reading!

Dean Cutinelli

We offer guitar lessons, piano lessons, drum lessons, violin lessons and vocal lessons as wells as orchestral instruments.