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Woody'sGuitarLab
Ameltingpotofguitarlessons,soundsandideas

(/ebook)

EBook:TheMelodicGuitaristMethod
AComprehensiveGuideForTheAdvancingGuitarist

Melodic
Minor
Scale

Scales,modes,theory,fingeringpatterns,chords,arpeggios,scale/chordrelationships,melodicanalysis
Learnmore(/ebook)

(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/melodicminorscale/)
Category:GuitarLessons(http://jameswoodward.net/category/guitarlessons/)|JamesWoodward
Themelodicminorscaleisasevennotescalethathasonlyonedifferencefromthemajorscaleaminor3rd.

Themelodicminorscaleitselfdoesnthavea
particularlyinterestingsound,butthederivedmodeshaveverycomplex
soundsandareusedextensivelyinjazzandfusionstylesinparticular,
the6thand7thmodeswhichcanbeplayedoverm7b5(halfdiminished)
andaltereddominantchords.
Hereisthemelodicminorscaleinallpossiblekeys

MelodicMinorFingeringPatternsfortheGuitar
Asthemelodicscaleisbuiltfromadifferentformulatothemajorscale,noneofthefingeringpatterns(http://jameswoodward.net/guitar
lessons/themajorscalepart2/)thatwehavelearntforthemajorscaleoranyofitsderivativemodeswillwork.
Luckily,theresonlyonenotedifferencebetweenthemajorandmelodicsotheexistingfingeringpatternscanbemodifiedtosuitbutyouwill
probablyfindthatittakessomepracticebeforethemelodicminorscalefeelsnatural.
Noticethechordsymbolthatthemelodicminorscaleisplayedover.Itiscalledtheminormajor7thchordandhasthechordtones1,b3,5and
7.

MelodicExercises
Letsstartrearrangingthenotesofthemelodicminorscaleintomoreinterestingmusicalideas.
Aswelearntwhilstexploringthemodesofthemajorscale,itsimportanttotargetthenotesthatgiveaparticularscaleitscharacteristicsoundin
thiscaseitstheb3and7ththatdifferentiatethemelodicminorscalefromothersimilarscales(suchasthemajoranddorianscalesamongst
others).
Untilweplaythe7thtone(D#),yourearmighthearthisexampleasadoriansoundduetotheuseofthe6thtone(C#).
Thiskindofmelodicambiguitycanbeusedtogreateffectitsnotalwaysnecessarytoplayeverysinglenoteofascale,particularlyifthe
underlyingchordisprovidingthecuethatthemelodyandharmonyarecomingfromthemelodicminorscale.
Descendingfournotegroupingsareagreatwaytofamiliariseyourselfwiththemelodicminorfingeringpattern.Practisethesekindofexercises
fouroreightnotesatatimeuntiltheyfeelcomfortable.

Heresanother
exampleofrhythmic
displacement,
whereweplaythree
notegroupsoveran
underlyingfournote
rhythm.This
displacementhelps
creatinginteresting
rhythmicpatterns
thatdontsoundlike
anexercise.

Hereweretakinga
sixnotemelodic
fragment(also
knownasamotif)
andshiftingitup
throughthemelodic
minorscaleonenote
atatime,inessence
exploringthemodes
ofthemelodicminor
scale.

Wewillexplore
thesemodesinmore
detailssoon
(includingthevery
interestingaltered
dominantscale

(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/altereddominantscale/)),butfornowthismakesagreatfingeringexerciseandreenforcesourknowledge

ofthefingeringpatternsthatareuniquetothemelodicminorscale.

Tags:Altered
dominant

(http://jameswoodward.net/tag/altered
dominant/),MelodicMinorScale
(http://jameswoodward.net/tag/melodic
minorscale/),Minorkey
(http://jameswoodward.net/tag/minor
key/),Scale
(http://jameswoodward.net/tag/scale/),

Theory

(http://jameswoodward.net/tag/theory/)

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GuitarLessons

TheAlteredChord(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/thealteredchord/)
MelodicMinorDiatonicChords(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/melodicminordiatonicchords/)
MelodicMinorScale(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/melodicminorscale/)
LydianScale(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/lydianscale/)
MajorChordExtensions(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/majorchordextensions/)
MajorPentatonicScale(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/majorpentatonicscale/)
MinorPentatonicScale(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/minorpentatonicscale/)
PentatonicScales(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/pentatonicscales/)
DorianScale(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/dorianscale/)
MixolydianScale(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/mixolydianscale/)
DiatonicChords(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/diatonicchords/)
DiminishedScales(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/diminishedscales/)
DiminishedSeventhChord(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/diminishedseventhchord/)
DominantSeventhChord(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/dominantseventhchord/)
Introductiontomodes(http://jameswoodward.net/guitarlessons/introductiontomodes/)
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