Melodic Minor & Altered Scale
Jazz and fusion applications
Melodic Minor
The melodic minor scale raises both the 6th and 7th degrees of natural minor:
Natural minor: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
Melodic minor: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7
This creates a scale that's minor (because of the b3) but with a smooth, ascending quality. It's essentially a major scale with a flat 3rd.
In jazz, melodic minor is used the same way ascending and descending (unlike classical, which descends as natural minor). It's the parent scale for several important jazz modes including the altered scale.
The Altered Scale
The 7th mode of melodic minor is called the altered scale (or super Locrian). It contains every possible alteration of a dominant chord: b9, #9, b5, #5.
Used over dominant 7th chords that resolve to a I chord (V7→I), the altered scale creates maximum tension before resolution. It's the quintessential jazz improvisation sound — sophisticated, tense, and colourful.
To find it: play melodic minor starting a half-step above the dominant chord's root. For G7 altered, play Ab melodic minor.
Tab Examples
A melodic minor
e-----------------------5--7--8-- B------------------5--7---------- G------------4--6---------------- D------5--7---------------------- A--5--7-------------------------- E--------------------------------
Tips
- Melodic minor = major scale with a b3. Simple but powerful.
- The altered scale creates maximum tension on V chords
- For altered scale: play melodic minor a half-step above the chord root
- These are advanced tools — use them sparingly for colour and tension
Practice Exercises
- Play A melodic minor ascending and descending
- Compare A melodic minor to A natural minor and A harmonic minor — three minor scales, each different
- Try the altered scale over a G7 chord (play Ab melodic minor over G7)
- Solo over a ii-V-I using Dorian on ii, altered on V, Ionian on I