That Other Minor Scale: Melodic Minor Scale Fingerings for Guitar

Original article:  http://fretterverse.com/2010/02/01/that-other-minor-scale-melodic-minor-scale-fingerings-for-guitar/

Written by Dr. Matt Warnock

Topics: Lessons, Scales and Modes

The melodic minor scale is commonly used in jazz and classical music and to a lesser extent by shred and metal guitarists. While most people are familiar with the Aeolian, natural, minor scale, the melodic minor scale remains a bit of a mystery for many players. In the following four examples we will take a look at some of the common, and not so common, ways to finger the melodic minor scale.

From a theoretical standpoint we can think of the melodic minor scale as a major scale with a flattened third. Those of us who are familiar with classical music theory will know that the melodic minor scale has different notes when ascending and descending, but in pop, rock, jazz, rock and metal music we use the same notes on the way up and down the scale.

Try playing the A major scale up and down, then play the A melodic minor scale up and down. After doing so you’ll be able to see how the melodic minor scale differs by only one note, the flattened third.

Once you’ve got these scales under your fingers and in your ears, try using the melodic minor scale in one of your solos or compositions, where it fits well over a minor chord or vamp.

The first example lays out probably the most common fingering for the melodic minor scale, one that starts with the middle finger on the sixth string. The whole scale stays in position, meaning the fretting hand doesn’t move left to right on the neck, and it covers just over two octaves in its length.

Ex. 1 – Starting on Middle Finger

Example two is more commonly associated with shred and metal guitarists as the fingering is often used by some of those genres most famous players. The fingering gets its name very literally, as there are three notes on each of the six strings.

Notice that this scale takes you out of position, in that it moves horizontally across the neck, as well as vertically. This is a great fingering to get players out of the typical box patterns and begin to see scales in larger chunks of the neck, not just within four or five fret areas.

Ex. 2 – Three Note Per String Fingering

The next example is both simple and tricky at the same time. It’s an in position scale, similar to example one, but it begins with the pinky finger on the sixth string. Because of this, this particular fingering is a great way to build up our pinky, as that finger is used on five of the six strings, and provides more of a workout than example one, mostly because of the stretch on the fourth string.

Ex. 3 – Starting on Pinky Finger

The last fingering we’ll look at is commonly used by players such as Kurt Rosenwinkel and Allan Holdsworth. It covers almost the entire neck of the guitar, from the fifth fret on the sixth string to the seventeenth fret on the first string, and is three octaves in length.

This fingering isn’t for the beginning player, but it’s a great way to get us out of box patterns, while at the same time forcing us to see the scale across a good portion of the neck.

As well, by featuring four notes on each string this fingering allows us to experiment with extreme legato techniques as we can now hammer-on, pull off and/or slide three times on each string set, something that we couldn’t do with any of the other fingerings.

Ex. 4 – Four Note Per String Three Octave Fingering

Now that you’ve checked out these four fingerings through the A melodic minor scale, try practicing them through the other eleven keys. You can also practice these fingerings with any scale or mode you’re working on, such as the major or harmonic minor scale.

As with any scale exercise, you should focus your attention on memorizing the fingerings, playing slowly but accurately and transitioning as smoothly as possible from note to note and string to string.