Transpose this lick up a minor 3rd to Eb melodic minor and use it over the Ab7(#11) chord in bars 5-6 of the bridge (bars 21-22 overall) of Stella by Starlight.

Transpose this lick up a perfect 4th to the key of F melodic minor and use it over the Abmaj.7(#5,#11) chord in the 2nd to last bar of Dolphin Dance.Transpose this lick down a whole step to the key of Bb melodic minor and play it over the first 8 bars of Caravan (for the best results, the chordal instruments should treat the first chord of Caravan as a C7sus4(b9) while you use Bb melodic minor in this context).Use this lick over the C-(maj.7) chord in bar 1 of Solar.To help you get started, hereвЂ™s an example of a single melody or вЂњlickвЂќ derived from the parent scale of C melodic minor followed by a list of how you can use it for each of the various melodic minor modes in different contexts, using real jazz standards as examples: Learn these super useful modes and start hunting for places to use them to help you generate melodic material! Here are the modes from the table above in notation with the appropriate chord symbols: Ionian (вЂњrootвЂќ mode or вЂњparent scaleвЂќ of major) вЂњAltered scaleвЂќ or вЂњSuper LocrianвЂќ or вЂњDiminished whole-toneвЂќ Note how each mode name is used only once to avoid confusion on the list of вЂњcorrectвЂќ mode names, and note how the вЂњcorrectвЂќ mode names follow a logical pattern which mirrors the major mode names and preserves a clear modal pattern: Mode PositionД¬ melodic minor: вЂњParentвЂќ scale/mode or вЂњroot modeвЂќ Here is a table of melodic minor modes in the key of C melodic minor. Calling this mode вЂњAeolian natural 3вЂќ is a trade-off though because most people think of a minor scale when you say вЂњAeolian,вЂќ but what I call вЂњAeolian natural 3вЂќ sounds and looks more like a dominant scale. it has a вЂњmajorвЂќ 3 rd not a вЂњminorвЂќ 3 rd). This is because it parallels the Aeolian mode in the system of major modes, except the 3 rd note is natural instead flat (i.e. So to avoid duplicating a mode name and to make the melodic minor mode names follow the same logic as the major mode names, I call a melodic minor scale played from the 5 th scale degree an вЂњAeolian natural 3вЂќ mode. ThatвЂ™s why I designate the вЂњmost correctвЂќ mode names the way that I do, even though some mode names might seem counter-intuitive.ДЇor example, it doesnвЂ™t make sense to have two different scales both called вЂњMixolydianвЂќ in the same system of modes. To avoid confusion, it doesnвЂ™t make sense to duplicate mode names, and the order of mode names for melodic minor should follow the same pattern as the major mode names. By correct, I simply mean the mode name that makes the most sense theoretically, not the name that is most commonly used to refer to a given mode.

IвЂ™ll also tell you what I think is the most вЂњcorrectвЂќ mode name.

ItвЂ™s important to know all the different вЂњaliasesвЂќ or nicknames that are used to refer to the same scale so that youвЂ™ll know which scales other jazz musicians are talking about. There is a lot of confusion over what to call the various modes derived from melodic minor, so IвЂ™ll give you multiple names for each scale. You can create modes based on this scale by playing the same melodic minor scale but starting on a different scale degree, just like you can with the major scale. Basically, a melodic minor scale is identical to a major scale except the third scale degree is lowered one half-step. To review, in the jazz context, a melodic minor scale is just the ascending version of the вЂњclassicalвЂќ melodic minor scale. In this post, IвЂ™m going to make sure we have a firm grasp of the melodic minor scale and its modes and then we can look at examples of how melodic minor can be used in jazz improvisation. In addition to learning the major scale in all 12 keys and the 7 diatonic or вЂњchurchвЂќ modes derived from the major scale, the melodic minor scale is one of the most important and useful scales for jazz improvisers to master.

Melodic minor