Frank Migliaccio, Author at Blitzstar Guitar

The Melodic Minor Scale

The melodic minor scale is a seven-note scale, identical to the natural minor scale but with the sixth and seventh scale degrees raised a half step each.

It is also identical to a major scale but with the third scale degree lowered a half step.

This post will cover how to construct a melodic minor scale by:

Altering a natural minor scale.
Altering a major scale.

It will also provide a common fingering for the melodic minor scale along with instruction on how to play it on a guitar in any key.

Harmonizing the Melodic Minor Scale I: Triads

The process of harmonizing a scale involves building chords on each degree (note) of the scale, using only notes from that scale.

This post will:

Take us through the process of harmonizing the melodic minor scale with triads.
Analyze the chords that result, along with the Roman numerals assigned to each chord.
Show the relationship between the chords in a harmonized melodic minor scale and the scale itself.
Provide instruction on how that relationship relates to soloing on a guitar.

Harmonizing the Melodic Minor Scale II: Seventh Chords

The process of harmonizing a scale involves building chords on each degree (note) of the scale, using only notes from that scale.

This post will:

Take us through the process of harmonizing the melodic minor scale with seventh chords.
Analyze the chords that result, along with the Roman numerals assigned to each chord.
Show the relationship between the chords in a harmonized melodic minor scale and the scale itself.
Provide instruction on how that relationship relates to soloing on a guitar.

There are two methods we could use to accomplish this:

We could add the note an interval of a third above the triads we built in my last post.
We could use the harmonized major scale as our starting point, and then alter the third scale degree in the chords that contain that note, as we did with the triads.

In the interest of consistency, we will use the second method.

Cadences

The motion of a dissonant chord moving to a consonant chord is called a cadence or resolution.

This post will define and analyze the strongest and most common cadences in music and provide examples of each one.

Non-diatonic Chord Substitution and Passing Chords

There are two primary ways for a guitar player to incorporate a non-diatonic chord into a progression.

A non-diatonic chord can substitute for another chord or function as a passing chord, one used to create a smooth transition between two other chords.

This post will:

Cover the most common types of non-diatonic chord substitution, providing examples for each one.
Cover the most common methods of inserting a passing chord into a progression, providing examples for each one.

Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale I: The Relative Approach

This post will use the relative approach to construct the modes of the melodic minor scale and provide instruction on how to play them on a guitar in any key.

Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale II: The Parallel Approach

Whereas the relative approach relates each of the modes to the melodic minor scale from which it is derived, the parallel approach views each mode as an independent scale.

As such, each of the modal scales can be compared with another similar scale with the same root note.

This post will compare the modes of the melodic minor scale with the closely related modes of the major scale.

It will also provide common fingerings for each of the modes, along with instruction on how to play them on a guitar with any root note.

Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale III: Soloing

Each of the seven modes of the melodic minor scale has a particular application when it comes to soloing:

The melodic minor scale is used to solo over minor and minor, major seventh chords with the same root notes.
The Dorian b2 scale is used to solo over minor and minor seventh chords with the same root notes.
The Lydian #5 scale is used to solo over augmented triads and major seventh, sharp five chords with the same root notes.
The Lydian b7 and Mixolydian b6 scales are used to solo over major triads and dominant seventh chords with the same root notes.
The Locrian #2 and altered scales are used to solo over diminished triads and minor seventh, flat five chords with the same root notes.

This post will take us through the process of identifying the modal scale or scales that are compatible with any given chord. It will also provide instruction on how to play the scale or scales on a guitar using the relative and parallel approaches.

Hybrid Tonalities and Common Key Variations

To this point in the series, most of the key centers we have worked with have been based on the harmonized major or minor scales. But music can also be based on a harmonized modal scale or a combination of harmonized scales.

This post will cover modal harmony, some hybrid tonalities and a few common variations made to the harmonized major and minor scales.

Blues Hybrid Scales

To this point in the series, we have mostly used blues scales and pentatonic scales to solo over blues chord progressions.

But there are several other scales that work just as well over blues progressions, and even more effectively when combined with a blues scale.

This post will cover two of the hybrid scales:

The Dorian-blues scale.
The Mixolydian-blues scale.

It will also provide common fingerings for each of the scales, along with instruction on how to play them on a guitar in any key.