How to use Melodic Minor Scales !!!

[alinenunez]

I think i am confused in how to use Melodic scales .
can we use Harmonic and Melodic Scales of a certain key at the same time?
for example build chord stabs with Harmonic Scales and a lead line with Melodic scales at the same time .?
and if yes . can u give us a good example? because as much as i tried to use Melodic keys over Harmonic scales . it sounds very dissonant to me
help would be appreciated

thanks

[JumpingJackFlash]

I think i am confused in how to use Melodic scales .
can we use Harmonic and Melodic Scales of a certain key at the same time?
for example build chord stabs with Harmonic Scales and a lead line with Melodic scales at the same time .?
and if yes . can u give us a good example? because as much as i tried to use Melodic keys over Harmonic scales . it sounds very dissonant to me
help would be appreciated

thanks

Unlike major keys, where all the notes are fixed and any alterations introduce chromaticism (there are 7 different diatonic notes), in minor keys the 6th and 7th notes are variables. Sometimes they are sharpened, somethings not. In other words, there are actually 9 different diatonic notes in minor keys*.

This is the best way to view it. The teaching of theory still persists in labeling "harmonic minor" and "melodic minor" scales, but in real life no serious professional composer has ever sat down and said "I think I'll use the melodic minor for this bit" - it just doesn't work like that in the real world.

Harmony is almost always drawn from the harmonic minor, mainly because the 7th note needs to be sharpened to create the necessary pull to the tonic that is so characteristic of Western tonality. V-i is the key-defining perfect cadence, but v-i just doesn't work.

Melodically (that is, horizontally), the problem with the harmonic minor is that there is an augmented interval between the 6th and raised 7th degrees of the scale. Augmented intervals are difficult to sing and sound harsh, so they are best avoided in most styles of Western music.

To avoid the augmented interval, you have the option of either NOT sharpening the 7th note, or sharpening the 6th note TOO. Because, as I said, the 7th note leads to the tonic, when going up the scale 6-7-8, the 7th has to be sharpened, and therefore so too does the 6th. When going down the scale 8-7-6, the 7th is not followed by the tonic, so it does not have to be sharpened (and neither does the 6th).

To avoid the music sounding weird (by confusion of key), there are some other points which are useful to employ along with the melodic minor:
The sharpened sixth is traditionally harminosed with chords ii (in root position) or IV (in first inversion). The note before the sharpened sixth is usually tonic or dominant, harmonised by some position of either i or V. The sharpened 6th must not be doubled.

The natural seventh is harmonised with chords III, v or VII. The note before the natural seventh is usually tonic or dominant, harmonised by some position of i, iv or VI, The next chord but one usually contains the sharpened seventh in a different part.

* There may actually be considered 10 diatonic notes in minor keys as the sharpened third in a Tierce de Picardie is also considered diatonic.

[trewq]

Would this short chord sequence that starts with an A melodic minor and ends with an A harmonic minor (mode) help?

Am EM Bm EM FM Dm EM

or try it the other way: Am EM FM G#Dim F#Dim DM EM

[iseker]

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I highly suggest to take a look at this;
Music Theory for Guitar (part 2) - Minor Scales (http://www.myguitarworkshop.com/guitar_lessons/music_theory/music_theory_for_guitar_part_2_minor_scales.aspx)

[frederik D]

If you want some interesting example of how varied the use of both harmonic, asscending and descending melodic minor scales can be, then check the slow movement of Bach's Italian concerto (starts on page 10 in the following - legal - score). (The movement is in D minor)

http://216.129.110.22/files/imglnks/usi ... 971muz.pdf

In the last bar on the third system of page 10, Bach even uses a B and c# over a Bb in the bass

[jancivil]

can we use Harmonic and Melodic Scales of a certain key at the same time?

We can do anything at any time for no reason at all except it sounds good to us. I advise in general not to proceed with the idea of putting theory before your idea, which is a case of the cart pulling the horse.

'Melodic minor' historically came into common practice because of a belief that the augmented second, here occurring between the b6 and the ^7 was something to be avoided as a bad thing in music. There are a number of extramusical reasons behind this idea. So while you were predisposed to iv-V-i (because of the strength of that V-i, and of the leading tone to tonic), in a melodic line you were discouraged in the strongest terms per use of the interval between these two notes.

EG: in A minor, when you're approaching a line in ascension you want F# G# A, in place of the 'wicked' F G# A.
Ascending lines = 'strive', descending lines = 'repose' in this aesthetic, so the descending melodic form of minor [eg., G F...] accords with that ideation. The main idea though was 'avoid the wicked interval(s)'.

If you are trying, in some exercise to meet the stylistic requirements of the time in which these ideas held sway, you more or less heed them in your part-writing. Beyond that there is no particular requirement to consider these ideas, unless of course you find the results from them more attractive in the realization of the music you wish to make.