In this 2nd lesson on melodic minor I want to give demonstrate a few melodic devices that you can apply to your melodic minor lines. It should give you a few new approaches and surprising modern jazz sounds.

As is I mentioned in the first lesson the material here is mostly intended for a tonic minor chord like Gm6 or GmMaj7, but it is easy to adapt or even just play it over other chords from melodic minor like the Lydian Dominant, Altered dominants or m7b5(9) chords. Some of the wider range lines make for very impressive altered dominant lines.

The examples are all place around this position of the G minor melodic scale though I do sometimes step a bit away when an arpeggio is easier to play with another fingering in that neighbourhood of the neck.

In the first example I make use of several of the diatonic triads and 7th chords in the scale. The line starts out with a pattern of a D major triad and then descends down a C7 arpeggio. That is followed by a Bb augmented triad before the melody ends with a short scale fragment landing on an A.

In the 2nd line the melody is sticking a bit closer to the tonic Gm sounds in the scale. The opening is a Parker like trill on the 3rd which is then scale wise descending into a GmMaj7 arpeggio. The melody then continues back up a Bbmaj7#5 arp before it makes a small scale run to end on an E.

To give an example on how this line might work as an F#7alt line you could just exchange the last E with D# the third of Bmaj7 and you would hear it resolve perfectly.

In the last example I am using a pair of triads. A device that is very useful for constructing lines. The main idea is to have two triads from the scale that have no common notes and make lines by alternating between the two. In this example I am using a Bb augmented and a C triad. The C triad is in 1st inversion (We often forget how much more we can get out of triads by also checking out inversions..) The opening is the Bb aug triad with a leading note. Followed by a simple four note pattern of the C major triad. The same pattern is then repeated with the Bb aug and a lower version of the C triad before the line ends on an F#.

This line could be an F#alt line and will resolve to BMaj7 without changing anything

The best way to get something out of these lines is of course not only to learn them but also to use them as blue prints or concepts when making your own melodic minor lines. That is both the best way to sound like yourself and also the best way to absorb the sound of the scale and use it in your playing.

If you want to download the examples as a PDF you can do that here:

Melodic Minor Lines – part 2

Guitar Lesson Video Transcription

Hi guys, in this second lesson on the melodic minor scale, I’m going to give you some more arpeggios and other melodic ideas that you can use when you improvise. Let’s go.

In this lesson, I’m going to do some samples in G melodic minor, and I’m going to use this position for the examples.

[guitar playing]

Of course, if you already know the scale, make sure that you check it out in diatonic triads, diatonic arpeggios and all those different structures, because the more of those you know, the easier it is to make different melodies with this.

Let’s just get to the examples, so here’s the 1^st example.

[guitar playing]

That’s how the 1^stline sounds. The construction is quite simple. The 1^st thing I play is a D major triad, then I run down the arpeggio of the scales, so that’s a C7 arpeggio, then I use a B flat augmented triad before I make a small scale one, and result to the 9 on the chord.

The 2^nd example sounds like this:

[guitar playing]

The first thing I do is this sort of trill, to me it’s a very Parker- sounding thing to do, or at least a very bebop kind of phrasing. Then I’m running down the scale to the 7^th degree scale, F sharp, and then from there I’m running down the G minor major arpeggio.

Then I go back up, but turns up to be a B flat major 7, sharp 5 arpeggio, and then I run down the scale before I end on the natural E 6^th of the scale.

[guitar playing]

That’s the 3^rd example. Here I’m trying to chain together 2 triads, maybe the B flat augmented triad, and the C major triad in the 1^st inversion here. This 1^st is a B flat augmented triad, C major triad, B flat augmented, C, and then I resolve to the F sharp.

That was 3 examples of lines in G melodic minor, I hope you can use them. If you like the lesson, you can go to the Fundamental Changes website, and there you can subscribe to their newsletter and you will be notified whenever they publish a new lesson, which they do weekly, at least.

There you can also download a PDF of the examples here. If you like the video, you’re also welcome to subscribe to my YouTube channel. You can go to my website and subscribe to my newsletter if you want to keep up to date with my lessons there.

Thank you for watching, and until next time.