The Melodic Minor Scale. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Minor, this scale and its modes are commonly used in jazz and bebop. However with a little understanding of the construction of these modes, it can become an invaluable writing tool for rock, metal and modern prog. We’ve found The Melodic Minor Modes to be an inexhaustible source of new ideas that yields all kinds of mysterious and ‘outside’ type sounds.

In this lesson we’re going to look at the basic forms of the 3nps Melodic Minor Modes. This will give you a quick and introductory way to use and understand the sound of each mode. However we would highly encourage you to use the interval visual system to break away from box patterns entirely. This will enable you to really understand the guitar neck to play though any scale or mode all over the neck without reliance on box patterns. A deep understanding of intervals allows for ultimate mastery of the guitar. Let’s now take a look at the Melodic Minor Scale and its modes in basic 3nps format.