Scales
Ab Melodic Minor Scale
Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G
Minor with a raised sixth and seventh — the smoothest way up to the tonic, and the parent scale of most of jazz’s altered harmony.
Also called Ab jazz minor
Ab Melodic Minor Scale
Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 | Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G · Ab | |
| Left hand | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 | Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G · Ab |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
Ab Melodic Minor is made of the notes Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern W H W W W W H.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · the three minors
Chords in this key
Stacking thirds on each degree of Ab Melodic Minor gives the chords of the key; the roman numeral names the degree each is built on.
Related scales
The scales Ab Melodic Minor shares its notes with: the one it is a rotation of, the relative and parallel keys, the scales inside it and the ones that contain it.
Ab MajorAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · F · G
Parallel: the same tonic, the other modality
Scales inside it
Ab RitusenAb · Bb · Db · Eb · F
Every note of this scale is in Ab Melodic Minor.
Ab Minor Sixth PentatonicAb · Cb · Db · Eb · F
Every note of this scale is in Ab Melodic Minor.
Ab Flat Three PentatonicAb · Bb · Cb · Eb · F
Every note of this scale is in Ab Melodic Minor.
Ab Minor HexatonicAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · G
Every note of this scale is in Ab Melodic Minor.
Scales that contain it
Ab Minor Six DiminishedAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · F · G
Contains every note of Ab Melodic Minor.
Understanding Ab Melodic Minor
Names and spellings
Ab Melodic Minor is also called Ab jazz minor; every one of those names means exactly these notes.
In the classroom the melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh going up and plays the natural minor coming down. In jazz the raised form is used in both directions and called the jazz minor; this page shows the ascending form.
How it is built
On Ab the scale is Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G, following the step pattern W H W W W W H. It is a major scale with a flattened third, or equivalently a harmonic minor with the sixth raised to close the augmented second.
Classically it is written ascending only, descending as the natural minor, because the raised sixth and seventh exist to smooth the approach to the tonic and have no job on the way down. Jazz uses the ascending form in both directions and calls it the melodic minor, full stop.
How it is used
Its modes are the backbone of modern jazz harmony. The fourth mode is the lydian dominant, the sixth is the locrian ♮2, and the seventh is the altered scale — which is why players learn melodic minor once and get all three.
Over a minor-major seventh chord it is the natural choice, and over an altered dominant it is the scale a semitone above the chord root.
Learn this properly
Chapter 7: Scales: Major and MinorCommon questions
- What notes are in the Ab Melodic Minor?
- The Ab Melodic Minor contains Ab · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G. Find every scale that contains these notes with the scale finder.
- What is the difference between melodic and harmonic minor?
- The sixth degree. Harmonic minor raises only the seventh, leaving an augmented second; melodic minor raises the sixth as well, which closes that gap.
- Why does melodic minor matter in jazz?
- Its modes produce the lydian dominant and the altered scale, the two most used sounds over dominant chords.
- How do I play Ab Melodic Minor?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What chords are in the key of Ab Melodic Minor?
- Stacking thirds on each degree of Ab Melodic Minor gives Abm (i), Bbm (ii), Cbaug (III+), Db (IV), Eb (V), Fdim (vi°), Gdim (vii°). These are the diatonic chords of the key, the ones a song in this key uses most; the harmony band on this page lists them with the seventh chords built the same way.