Harmonic and Melodic Minor

ZachAttack · #1 08-13-2006, 07:38 PM

Well, my questions are concerning the Harmonic and Melodic minor. I was wondering if i should put the harmonic and melodic modes in my daily scale practice routine.

I know the Melodic Minor's modes are used over differant chords in jazz, like the alt scale over 7alt chords, but what other modes am i allowed to play over which chords? Should i just build diationic chords off them and go from there?

And are both the Melodic and Harmoic practical? or should i even worry about those modes?

Thanks a million in advance!!!

steveb98 · #2 08-13-2006, 09:07 PM

I'm probably a bad person to answer this question. I have never really worked on Harmonic Minor scale. Learned it at one point and never studied it enough to use it. Melodic Minor I do work on and its modes. The two main modes of the Melodic Minor I use are the Alt you mention for playing over dominants with altered 5's and 9's or for implying that sound. The other mode that is very important is the Lydian b7 mode. IT is good over any 7th chord and especially for non-diatonic 7th chords.

ii-v · #3 08-14-2006, 08:56 AM

Yes they are both practical. As for what they can be used over the list is long and I do not care to list everything. But here are a couple of highlights. 4th mode of melodic minor is lydian dominant. The sharp 11 in this mode lends itself to: v7#11. I like to use this over v7 also. You can alter these scales to fit over other extensions as well. Extension=9,11,13.

Another example 5th mode of harmonic minor plays well over:
v7b9 or v7b13. It can be used over v7 as well.

The real point is this, learn these modes as choices such as words in your vocabulary. Master them. When you speak with another person you do not think for 5-10 seconds about each word. You simply know what you want to say and say it. It does not take time, in fact, it flows from a long history of language you have acquired over the length of your life. When I improv I do not think about what to play I simply play it. The larger my vocab the more choices I have in what to say. Modes are fun to group over chords and vice-versa, but if you learn the modes and their meanings you can use it freely over many many chords.