How to Play the Melodic Minor Scale on Piano

Are you ready to learn all about the beautiful and versatile melodic minor scale? This scale creates a lighter atmosphere than the natural minor, and a more flowing sound than the harmonic minor. Let’s take a look at how to recognize and play this scale on the piano.

What is the melodic minor scale and its formula?

In a melodic minor scale, the sixth and seventh tones of the scale are raised a half step higher than those in the natural minor scale. This gives some lift to the sound of the scale and also avoids the large jump between the sixth and seventh tones that you find in harmonic minor.

To play this scale, start on the tonic. Then step upward as follows:

Whole - Half - Whole - Whole - Whole - Whole - Half

The scale degrees are: 1–2–♭3–4–5–6–7. In Solfege, that would be Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. If you were to play this scale on the piano keyboard starting on C, the only black key would be the E flat. You would play all of the rest of the notes as white keys.

How the melodic minor scale on piano is taught incorrectly

Jazz pianists play the melodic minor scale with the raised 6th and 7th scale degrees going both up and down. However, classical pianists are traditionally taught to play it with a raised 6th and 7th scale degree ONLY when ascending, but NOT when descending. This approach is what most piano teachers teach.

For example, if we’re playing the A melodic minor scale in the classical tradition, we raise the 6th and 7th scale degrees while ascending. When descending, we don’t raise the 6th and 7th scale degrees, making descending melodic minor identical to natural minor. 

That said, we classical musicians need to break from this tradition, because the tradition is plain wrong! Music theory textbooks, piano teachers, and the Harvard Dictionary of Music all CLAIM that in classical music the melodic minor only raises the 6th and 7th scale degrees when ascending, and lowers them when descending. But this simply isn’t true!

For example, we just saw in a recent lesson on Solfeggietto that the melodic minor scale also can raise the 6th and 7th scale degrees when DESCENDING. You can also find raised 6th and 7th scale degrees Bach’s Invention No. 4 in D minor.

There are many other examples of this in classical music, making this clearly a case where music “theory” does not match music in “real life.” That’s why the right way to practice melodic minor is with the raised 6th and 7th scale degrees going both up and down, since that’s how it’s used in real music in both jazz and classical styles. Hoffman Academy is the outlier in teaching it. This approach is not widely used, but it offers clear benefits. Teachers who are watching are encouraged to consider adopting it, because it makes sense.

What is the difference between melodic and harmonic minor?

Melodic and harmonic minor are both variations on the natural minor scale. Harmonic minor raises only the seventh tone, which changes the sound of the V chord in the scale from a minor chord to a major chord and helps lead strongly to the tonic note when the cadence moves from V to i.

Raising the seventh tone of the natural minor scale to create the harmonic minor scale causes a step-and-a-half distance between the sixth and seventh tones. This interval is also known as an augmented 2nd. While it gives the scale a dramatic sound, this unexpected leap can also be jarring.

In melodic minor, both the sixth and seventh tones are raised. With both of these tones raised, there are no intervals in the scale larger than a whole step. When melodies and harmonies are written in this scale, it flows evenly and sounds more balanced.

When should you use melodic minor?

Melodic minor creates a lighter sound than natural minor, and a more flowing and balanced scale than the harmonic minor. Here are some places where you’ll want to use it:

When playing jazz in a minor key, especially when you want a brighter, more complex sound
Whenever you compose or improvise in a minor key but want a lighter, more lifted mood than you can get with a natural minor scale
When you want a strong resolution to the tonic in a minor key without the jarring one-and-a-half step leap found in the harmonic minor scale

In short, use this scale when you want a minor sound with more fluidity and less tension. It bridges the gap between the dark feel of natural minor and the intensity of harmonic minor, offering something more balanced and melodic.

How to convert major to melodic minor?

To convert a major scale to a melodic minor scale, you only need to change one note, and you do that by lowering the 3rd scale degree by a half step. Everything else stays the same.

So if you start with a C major scale:

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

To turn it into C melodic minor, you lower the E to E-flat: