A♭ Melodic minorScale

Formula

W H W W W W H 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7
The family

A♭ Melodic minor on the chromatic circle

A♭ Melodic minor is the 1st mode of the Melodic minor family. Pick another note on the circle to open the scale that starts there.

W H W W W W H 1 A♭I Melodic minor 2 B♭II Dorian ♭2 ♭3 C♭III Lydian augmented 4 D♭IV Lydian dominant 5 E♭V Mixolydian ♭6 6 FVI Locrian ♮2 7 GVII Altered A♭ Melodic minor
The whole neck

A♭ Melodic minor across the fretboard

Every note of the scale up to the 16th fret, named by its degree. The root is a ring. Step through the five CAGED positions one at a time in the scale library.

3 5 7 9 12 15 6 7 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 2 ♭3 5 6 7 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 1 2 ♭3 4 6 7 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7
Harmony

Chords in A♭ Melodic minor

Stack every other note of the scale from each degree and you get its chords. Open any of them in the chord library.

DegreeChordNotes
iA♭m(maj7)A♭ C♭ E♭ G
iiB♭m7B♭ D♭ F A♭
♭III+C♭maj7♯5C♭ E♭ G B♭
IVD♭7D♭ F A♭ C♭
VE♭7E♭ G B♭ D♭
vi°Fm7♭5F A♭ C♭ E♭
vii°Gm7♭5G B♭ D♭ F
Context

Where A♭ Melodic minor fits

Jazz minor: over minor-major 7 and minor 6 chords, the tonic of a minor key in jazz. Its modes give jazz most of its altered sounds.

A♭ Melodic minor is mode 1 of the melodic minor family. The same notes played from each of its other degrees give the family's other modes:

Move one note by a half step and you get a different scale:

Melodic minor scale in every key

A♭ Melodic minor scale questions

What notes are in the A♭ Melodic minor scale?

A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F G. As degrees from the root: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7.

What is the A♭ Melodic minor scale formula?

1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7, or in steps between the notes, W H W W W W H (W is a whole step of two frets, H a half step of one fret, 1½ three frets).

How do you play the A♭ Melodic minor scale on guitar?

This page draws every note of A♭ Melodic minor up to the 16th fret, each named by its degree with the root as a ring. To learn it a few frets at a time, open it in the scale library and step through its five CAGED positions, from the G shape to the E shape to the D shape to the C shape to the A shape.

What chords are in the A♭ Melodic minor scale?

A♭m(maj7) (i), B♭m7 (ii), C♭maj7♯5 (♭III+), D♭7 (IV), E♭7 (V), Fm7♭5 (vi°), Gm7♭5 (vii°).

When is the A♭ Melodic minor scale used?

Jazz minor: over minor-major 7 and minor 6 chords, the tonic of a minor key in jazz. Its modes give jazz most of its altered sounds.