E Melodic Minor Scale on guitar
The jazz melodic minor scale combines a minor 3rd with natural 6th and 7th degrees. It is a cornerstone of modern jazz, fusion, and progressive guitar improvisation.
The notes of E Melodic Minor Scale
Built on E, the scale degrees spell out like this. The degree is the number you would call that note relative to E:
RiffRoute writes every accidental as a sharp. A sharp and the flat above it are the same fret, so A♯ is B♭ and so on.
Where it lands on the fretboard
Every fret from the open string up to the 12th that belongs to the E Melodic Minor Scale, string by string. Root notes are highlighted.
- Low E: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12
- A: 0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12
- D: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11
- G: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12
- B: 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
- High E: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12
Your anchor points: E is at fret 0 on the low E string and fret 7 on the A string. Start every pattern from one of those and you always know where home is.
Unlike classical convention, modern guitarists use the ascending pattern both ascending and descending.
Chords that fit
All 9 of these chords from RiffRoute's library use only notes inside the E Melodic Minor Scale, so they will not clash with it:
Other E scales
Same starting note, different colour. Switching between these over one E chord is the quickest way to hear what each scale does:
- E Major Scale
- E Natural Minor Scale
- E Major Pentatonic Scale
- E Minor Pentatonic Scale
- E Blues Scale
- E Harmonic Minor Scale
The Melodic Minor scale in other keys
Practise it in the app
A list of frets only gets you so far. RiffRoute shows the E Melodic Minor Scale lit up on a full fretboard, plays it back and lets you practise it against a backing track.