Eb Melodic Minor, Shape by Shape
Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C and D make up the Eb melodic minor scale, and none of the notes needs a double accidental. It is Eb major with the 3rd lowered to Gb.
Fret the root at the 11th fret of the low E string, or at the 6th fret of the A string. Because the shapes are movable, the pattern you learned for A melodic minor works here after a slide up six frets. For another way to cover the neck, try two notes per string patterns.
Play the Eb melodic minor scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the Eb melodic minor scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eb | 1 | Root | 0 |
| F | 2 | Major 2nd | 2 |
| Gb | b3 | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| Ab | 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 |
| Bb | 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| C | 6 | Major 6th | 9 |
| D | 7 | Major 7th | 11 |
Structure
Eb melodic minor scale notes:
How the melodic minor scale is built:
The melodic minor scale is built from the degrees 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7, which gives the step pattern W-H-W-W-W-W-H (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. That makes it a 7-note scale.
It is the parent scale of its own modal family.
It is also known as Jazz Minor.
Eb Melodic Minor Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (D)
Box pattern — position 1
Box pattern — position 2
Box pattern — position 3
Box pattern — position 4
Box pattern — position 5
3 notes per string — position 1
3 notes per string — position 2
3 notes per string — position 3
3 notes per string — position 4
3 notes per string — position 5
Chords in the Eb melodic minor scale
Stacking thirds on each degree of the scale gives these chords.
Related modes
These scales share the same notes as the melodic minor scale, starting from a different degree.
The melodic minor scale in other keys
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
