The melodic minor scale is a minor scale with a major 6th or major 7th. In the key of C this is. Melodic minor, melodic minor arpeggios, melodic minor arpeggios guitar, melodic minor blues, melodic minor guitar. If you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe to my newsletter. 36 Minor Scales PDF. There are 3 types of minor scale: natural minor, melodic minor and harmonic minor. Each scale has a different use and application in jazz.
Melodic Minor is a huge part of the sound of Jazz and especially Modern Jazz. In this video, I am going to go over how you make some great Melodic Minor Licks. In the examples, I will also breakdown the way I am thinking and which arpeggios and melodic devices I use in the lines.Of course, I am using some of the arpeggios that you need to know to work with melodic minor, but there are also a few great options that most people don’t get around to mentioning because they are not considered a part of the diatonic arpeggio set. The Melodic Minor ScaleThe melodic minor scale is a minor scale with a major 6th or major 7th. In the key of C this is:C D Eb F G A B C1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 8The scale is shown here below: #1 The mMaj9th arpeggioThis line is build around the CmMaj7th arpeggio in bar 1. The 2nd bar also contains a part made using leading notes for chord tones.
#2 Ebmaj7(#5)This line is chaining together two arpeggios from the Scale: Ebmaj7(#5) and CmMaj. The 2nd bar is made using chromaticism and a Cm triad. #3 The Augmented TriadOne of the most flexible and useful parts of the of the sound of the scale is the augmented triad. In this example I am combining the Augmented triad with a Dsus4 triad. The Dsus4 is a good way to emphasize the extensions of 9 and 6th on the Cm chord.The 2nd bar is mainly using some chromaticism and repeats the augmented triad in a higher octave.If you want to check out more Melodic Minor material in terms of triads and arpeggios then have a look at this article: #4 Dom7th#5 arpeggios (a great secret weapon)The B7(#5) arpeggio is a great arpeggio to use on a Cm melodic chord like CmMaj7 or Cm6. The arpeggio contains the augmented triad and the A adds a nice set of colors on the chord:B7(#5): B Eb G ARelative to C: Maj7 3rd 5th 6th #5 The G7(#5) and Gsus4The G7(#5) is another way to use a non-diatonic arpeggio on a CmMaj7 chord.
In the example below I am combining it with a Gsus4 triad, which is also a good device for a CmMaj7 arpeggio. Using Melodic Minor on a Minor BluesIf you want to learn how to use Melodic minor in the context of a minor blues then check out this lesson. It is important to realize that along the way you will be better off also knowing what each diatonic triad is and what notes it contains. This will help finding places you can use it and relate it to other chords where it may be a good upper-structure.To shortly list the diatonic triads:I – AmII – BmIII – C augmentedIV – DV – EVI – F#dimVII – G#dim Diatonic 7th chordsThe next logical step is to check out the 7th chords. These are really just the triads with one extra note and also essential structures for understanding the harmony related to the scale in the from that it is used in a jazz context.An excerpt of this exercise is shown in the example below. Here’s a list of the chords:I – AmMaj7II – Bm7III – CMaj7#5IV – D7V – E7VI – F#m7(b5)VII – G#m7(b5) Advanced arpeggio structures Quartal Harmony and ArpeggiosBesides the 3rds based structures that are covered here above it is also possible to start looking into some of the other possibilities contained in the scale.A very important structure in modern jazz since John Coltrane is the Quartal Arpeggio.
In the example below I have written out the quartal arpeggios played along the neck on the middle string set. This way of playing the is quite easy and a good way to connect the different positions. The sus4 triads in A melodic minor are:Asus4Bsus4C(#5)sus#4Dsus#4Esus4F#dim(sus4)G#dim(susb4)Some of these triads may have peculiar names, but as you shall see in the melodic minor licks they do have some interesting sounds that we can use. Diatonic Spread TriadsSpread or open-voiced triads are extremely useful for adding larger intervals into your lines. One reason is that it can be difficult to have larger intervals and still make coherent melodies, and using a structure as strong as a triad really helps with this.In this segment I have written out the spread-triads along the neck in all three inversions. I find this a good practical way to work on them. You should also consider how great they are as alternate picking exercises, since they contain a lot of string skips and are useful fro string skipping and precision with alternate picking.
Spread triads in positionAs I have mentioned with the other exercises it also often very useful to check them out in a scale position. This will help you have a better overview of both the scale in general and the position that you play it in.Below is the root position spread triads in the position that I am using for this lesson. Consider these exercises more something you do for knowing the notes of the triads and where these notes are found in this position. It probably is not very practical as any type of speed or dexterity exercise.
Quartal Arpeggios and Open-voiced TriadsThe final example is using some stacks of 4ths. As I mention in the video, the construction of the melodic minor scale yields a few peculiar quartal arpeggios. In this line the first example is two quartal arpeggios, though the first one is actually also a G#7 shell voicing. The G#7 shell is followed by a quartal arpeggio from E. Then follows a small scale run build around an Am triad and the final part of the line is an E major root position spread triad. The line ends on the major 6th: F#. Scale practice thoughtsKeep in mind that it is much more useful for you to keep working on knowing your scales better and trying to use the things you practice in them than trying to be able to play these exercises fast.
After all we practice exercises to become better at making music and if we don’t practice making music with the material from the exercises it is going to become either empty knowledge or things that we never really learned, Get a Free EbookIf you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe to my newsletter: Get the PDF!You can also download the PDF of my examples here:If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics or how I can make the lessons better then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.Please subscribe to my and feel free to connect with me via, or to keep up to date with new lessons, concerts and releases.This entry was posted in, and tagged, on.