Melodic Minor scale harmony and scales

A Melodic minor scale is still a 7 note scale, with 7 modes starting on the 7 degrees, but the difference is a flattened 3rd (i.e. in C, the notes would be C D Eb F G A C !. "he #resence of the b3 leads to much dar$er and e%otic harmonies with man& more #ossibilities.

Minor/Major scale/chord
'n C ( C D Eb F G A C "he first mode of C Melodic minor scale, this has a m3 and M7, hence the chord name. "he chord s#ellings are min)ma*, or m+7 or m,7. "hese chords are often #la&ed as substitutes for m7 chords- this is usuall& done when the m7 chords are not #art of a ii./ #rogression. "he e%ce#tion to this is when the melod& note is the m7th.

Susb9 scale/chord
'n C ( D Eb F G A C D "he 0nd mode of the Melodic minor scale, it has a m3 and m7, suggesting a m7 chord, but the flattened 0 nd (more usuall& referred to as the b1! is 2er& dissonant. "herefore this scale is usuall& used o2er a susb1 chord, 3uite rare. "he most im#ortant notes of the Melodic Minor susb1 scale are the root, b1th, 4 th and 5th.

Lydian Augmented scale/chord

'n C ( Eb F G A C D Eb "he 3rd mode of C Melodic Minor scale, this has a M3rd and M7th, suggesting a ma7 chord. 6owe2er this scale has a raised 4th (the A! and the 7&dian Mode also has a raised 4th. 6ere though we ha2e a raised 8th too (the note !, so the chord s&mbol is ma7(,8!.

Lydian Dominant scale/chord

'n C ( F G A C D Eb F "his uses the 4th mode of the C Melodic Minor scale, and has an M3 and m7 so can be used o2er a 7 th chord. As its name suggests it also has a raised 4th (the 7&dian bit!, but this chord is usuall& s#elt 7(,99!.

5th Mode of melodic Minor scale

'n C ( G A C D Eb F G "his scale)chord has an M3 and m7 suggesting a 7th chord, but the 99th (4th! and b93 (b5! both sound li$e a2oid notes, so reducing its #otential for use. A 7b93 chord usuall& uses an altered scale or whole.tone scale. 't is so rarel& used that it has no name:

Locrian #2
'n C ( A C D Eb F G A "his is the 5th mode of the Melodic Minor scale, and has an m3 and m7 suggesting a m7 chord. A m7 chord usuall& uses a Dorian mode, but this scale has a b8 and b5, not found in the Dorian mode. 'ts full chord s#elling would be m7(b8, b5!, but this is usuall& s#elt m7(b8! or e2en better ;. "his usuall& functions as a ii chord usuall& (but not alwa&s! in a minor ii./ ' #rogression. A 7ocrian Mode uses onl& 9 different note from this row< in a 7ocrian mode the 0nd note is onl& a semitone abo2e the root, and this sounds harsh and is treated as an a2oid note. 6ere the 7ocrian ,0 has a raised 0 nd, relie2ing the dissonance.

Altered Dominant
'n C ( C D Eb F G A "his is the 7th Mode of the Melodic minor scale. Although the m3 and m7 suggest a m7 chord, the 4 th note is in fact the =true> 3rd (the 0nd and 3rd degrees of this mode are the b1 and ,1!. "his scale therefore fits a 7 chord but with alterations. Com#are this mode with a Mi%ol&dian mode of the same root- this Altered Dominant has a b1, ,1, b8 and ,8. All these =alterations> would be far too big to use in a chord s#elling, so instead =alt> is used. ?ometimes this scale is called a =Diminished @hole."one> scale because it starts li$e a Diminish ?cale, and finishes li$e a @hole."one. 't goes without sa&ing (so ' will sa& it an&wa&:! that we ha2e onl& been referring to the modes of one Melodic Minor scale, and there are another 99 to learn too. 't is essential that &ou learn all these modes in all $e&s and that &ou can begin to associate the Modes with the chords the& create and fit o2er.