MelodicMinorScalesDr.MarkWatkins,BYU–Idaho

Thefollowingscalesareincludedforreferenceonly.Theyarenotintendedaspartoftheexerciseroutine.Thesameappliestothearpeggios.Workbeginswiththe“Five‐notePatterns.”TheMelodicMinorscalegetsitsnamefromusageintheconstructionofmelodies:singlenote,sequential,linear.Thescaleiscontrivedfromtonalharmony,whichattractstoatonic(therootor1stnoteofthescale).Boththe6thand7thdegreesareraisedascending,pullingupwardtotonic.Whendescendingtheyareloweredorreturnedtotheirnaturalminorstatefallingtowardthedominant(5thscaledegree).AMelodicMinor DMelodicMinor

EMelodicMinor GMelodicMinor

BMelodicMinor CMelodicMinor

F‐sharpMelodicMinor FMelodicMinor

C‐sharpMelodicMinor B‐flatMelodicMinor

G‐sharpMelodicMinor E‐flatMelodicMinor

D‐sharpMelodicMinor A‐flatMelodicMinor

A‐sharpMelodicMinor

PracticeSequenceDothefollowinginaselectedkeythenmovetothenextkey.

1. 5‐notepattern2. 9‐notepattern3. Fullrangescale

5‐NotePatternThedecisionregardingraisedorlowered6thand/or7thscaledegreedependsonthenotethatfollows.Whenascendinguseraisedoption;whendescendinguseloweredoption.Forexample,inCminorifthenotethatfollowsBascendstoC,aB‐naturalshouldbeplayed(Ex.1below).IfthenotethatfollowsBdescendstoanA,aB‐flatshouldbeplayed(Ex.2below).Likewise,iftheAcontinuesdowntoG,anA‐flatisthechoice(Ex.3).CMelodicMinor

Example1:Bascending

Example2:Bdescending

Example3:Adescending

Exercise:Startonthelowestnoteavailableonthesaxophonethatiswithinthekeysignatureandaccordingtothe“rule”oftheMelodicMinor:Cminorkeysignature/MelodicMinorscale=lowestnoteBnotB‐flat.Example:CMelodicMinor.Eachkeyisnotincludedherein.Studentsshouldinternalizetheconceptandplayallscaledegreepatternsandkeysfrommemory

9‐NotePatternFollowthesameconsiderationsasoutlinedabove.Example:EMelodicMinor

Full‐rangeScalesUseadifferentarticulationeachtimeascaleispracticed.Eventually,throughworkonnumerouskeys,allthepatternsbelowshouldbemastered.

PlayrangesasintheMajorFull‐rangeScales.KeysignaturesarethesameasNaturalMinor.Raisethe6thand7thscalesdegreeswhenascending;lowerthe6thand7thdegreesbacktoNaturalMinorpitcheswhendescending.

Topandbottompivotpointsfollowthesameprincipleasoutlinedfor5‐noteand9‐noteexercises.Thechoiceofraisedorlowered6thand/or7thdependsonwhetherornotthefollowingpitchisaboveorbelowthenoteinquestion.Examplesfollow.Example1:AMelodicMinor,6thattop(6thdescending=lowered)

Example2:GMelodicMinor,7thattop(6thascending=raised,7thdescending=lowered,6th

descending=lowered)

Example3:CMelodicMinor,7thatbottom(7thascending=raised)

Example4:DMelodicMinor,6thatbottom(7thdescending=lowered,6thascending=raised,7th

ascending=raised)