Chord Scales - Part 3: More Scales
(12 Apr 03)
Melodic Minor
As you can imagine, the procedure for Melodic Minor is no different than with all other chords and scales. Therefore, I will try to make it as painless as possible by listing the chords and scales and by pointing out some important and practical points.
Melodic Minor is a further development of Harmonic Minor. To straighten out the "unfamiliar" sound (to Western Music) of a minor third between the 6th and 7th scale degree in Harmonic Minor, the minor sixth was raised by a half step to a major sixth.
Let's have a look:
A Melodic Minor
You may realize that step by step we get closer to the actual A major scale. The only difference left between A Melodic Minor and A Major is the third - all other intervals are identical (Sometimes it can be helpful to think of melodic minor as a major scale with a minor third).
A Melodic Minor in 5th position
Compare this fingering with natural and harmonic minor.
Chords Within Melodic Minor
The interesting thing is the last four chords we get: two dominant7 chords on IV and V and two m7b5 chords on VI and VII. VIIm7b5 is a special case and we will talk about it soon.
Scales Within Melodic Minor
Let's again compare each scale with the ones we already know and see what we come up with. I included the chords, their tensions, together with the abbreviation MM for a better orientation.
(you could think of it as a major scale with a minor third or dorian with a major 7th)
Now, sometimes this scale is also named Lydian b7. Although technically this is a right description, I think that this name points into the wrong direction. When I hear Lydian I immediately think of a major7 chord (I strongly hope that you do too). Due to the fact that the chord for this scale is D7, I like to see (hear) the function of the chord, meaning Mixolydian with tensions #11.
Everything fine with you? How about the G#7? We did not get this chord when we listed the 7th chords of melodic minor. Here we have a special case that I will explain below (I just included it right away to make sure you do not fall asleep!).
From Superlocrian to Altered
If we stick to the rules and examine the scale starting on the 7th of melodic minor, we get a Locrian scale with tensions b9, b11, and b13. This scale is referred to as Superlocrian, probably because of tension b11, which makes it "more locrian" than regular locrian with tension 11.
I already mentioned that whenever you approach a m7b5 chord it is best to go with straight locrian. Therefore, there is no need for another locrian scale that we would not use anyway. The diminished fourth (c) gives us the opportunity to do a conversion of the scale above by seeing it as a major third (b#). As a result the scale changes from a locrian to a dominant sound. Using enharmonic spelling we change the b3 to a #2 and the b5 to a #4.
Take a look: same scale, different meaning
The result is that we get a dominant scale with tensions b9, #9, #11, and b13, which by the way, are all possible tensions for a dominant chord.
Notice that the dominant chord is not complete - it misses the perfect fifth, which is no big deal, because we know that the important two chord tones are major third and minor 7th (don't we?). If there is no perfect fifth in the chord we could further rearrange the above scale by saying that #11 is b5 and b13 is #5: G#7(b9 #9 b5 #5)
Before you stumble into total confusion, I'd like to summarize the facts about altered that you should memorize for now:
- Altered is created on the 7th degree of melodic minor.
- It is a dominant scale with tensions b9, #9, #11 (b5), b13 (#5) without a perfect fifth.
- common chord symbols for altered are 7alt, 7#9b13, or any other combination of the available tensions.
Melodic Minor Overview
Now, take Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic Minor, compare them and memorize the differences. Make a list of all scales, chords, and tensions.
You can ask yourself questions like:
What are the common chords in Natural and Harmonic Minor? - or what are the common chords in Harmonic and Melodic Minor?
How many different chords are there all together in these minor keys and on which scale degree are they originated from?
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