Guitar scale · jazz minor
A Melodic Minor Scale
Natural minor with raised 6th and 7th degrees. Foundational to modern jazz and fusion.
Tap any note to hear it.
How to play A Melodic Minor on guitar
Find the root first: A is at fret 5 on the low E string and fret 0 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every A on the neck; the gold ones are the other chord tones (3rd, 5th and 7th), which are the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 5–9. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | A |
| 2 | B |
| ♭3 | C |
| 4 | D |
| 5 | E |
| 6 | F# |
| 7 | G# |
Fretwise for Android · Free
Practise A Melodic Minor anywhere, even offline.
This page is a small slice of the Fretwise app. On your phone you get all 20 scales and 23 chord types in every key, 7 tunings including Drop D and DADGAD, and the CAGED shapes on one tap. No sign-up.
- Songwriter Handbook: the chords of any key, filtered by mood
- 51 genre practice loops, from blues to flamenco and neo-soul
- One purchase, no subscription, ads removed
Questions
- What notes are in the A Melodic Minor Scale?
- The A Melodic Minor Scale has 7 notes: A, B, C, D, E, F#, G#.
- What is the formula of the melodic minor scale?
- 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7, which is the step pattern W H W W W W H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play A Melodic Minor on the guitar?
- The root A is at fret 5 on the low E string and fret 0 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 5–9, and four more positions connect it up the neck.