1. Follow the creation of
a Melodic Minor Scale
Which will take you through the first two forms of minor
scales, so you get a mini review

2. What do we know so far?
F minor is the relative minor to Ab Major.
F minor shares the same key signature as Ab Major
There are no accidentals. Everything is included in the
key signature.

3. We need to add something to this scale to make it harmonic
minor . . . A leading tone
Raise this note by a half-step?
No! That’s the 6th note. Remember raise the 7th note to
create the leading tone.

4. This is the note that
needs to be changed
The seventh note is an Eb. To raise it a half-step, Eb
becomes E♮. E♮ is the leading tone creating a harmonic
minor scale.

5. Now that we have the harmonic minor spelled out, we have to
do one more thing to turn it into a melodic minor scale. In
addition to raising the 7th note of the scale, the 6th note of the
scale also has to be raised by a half-step.
The Db was raised by a
half-step to D♮
But . . . That’s only ascending

6. So what happens on the descending melodic minor scale?
Does this look familiar?
It’s the descending portion of the natural minor scale. The descending
portion of melodic minor scales use the natural minor form.

7. So let’s review the steps to building a melodic minor scale.
Now raise the 6th note
of the scale
Build the harmonic Return to the original
minor scale natural minor scale
(raise the 7th)
Build the natural
minor scale