G♯ / A♭ Melodic Minor Scale

72 scales in every key on a map of the whole neck: positions, patterns, and every note played as it lights up.

The G♯ melodic minor scale has 7 notes: G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – E♯ – F𝄪. The melodic minor (jazz minor) is a minor scale with a major 6th and 7th: a minor 3rd with the top of a major scale. Jazz players use it and its modes to colour minor chords and altered dominant chords.

G♯ and A♭ are the same pitch, so this page covers both names; the notes are spelled from G♯, the way the key is usually written (a double sharp or flat is the correct spelling for that degree). Compared with the G♯ major scale it has ♭3 (B instead of B♯).

The explorer above is set to G♯ melodic minor: the whole neck is mapped, and you can zoom into any of its 7 positions, change the labels to degrees or fingers, and hear it up, down and in patterns.

G♯ melodic minor scale notes

Degree	Note	Interval from G♯	Frets above the root	Sargam
1	G♯	R	0	S
2	A♯	M2	2	R
♭3	B	m3	3	g
4	C♯	P4	5	M
5	D♯	P5	7	P
6	E♯	M6	9	D
7	F𝄪	M7	11	N

Steps between the notes: W H W W W W H (W = two frets, H = one fret). Start on any G♯ and follow those steps up one string to play the scale.

G♯ melodic minor scale positions on the guitar

With three notes on every string, G♯ melodic minor has seven patterns that climb the neck. Position 1 starts on G♯ on the low E string at fret 4; each next position starts on the next note of the scale. In standard tuning, high string first:

Position	E (1st)	B	G	D	A	E (6th)
Position 1 frets 4–9	6 7 9	6 8 9	4 6 8	5 6 8	4 6 8	4 6 7
Position 2 frets 6–11	7 9 11	8 9 11	6 8 10	6 8 9	6 8 10	6 7 9
Position 3 frets 7–13	9 11 13	9 11 12	8 10 12	8 9 11	8 10 11	7 9 11
Position 4 frets 9–15	11 13 15	11 12 14	10 12 13	9 11 13	10 11 13	9 11 13
Position 5 frets 11–16	13 15 16	12 14 16	12 13 15	11 13 15	11 13 14	11 13 15
Position 6 frets 13–18	15 16 18	14 16 18	13 15 16	13 15 17	13 14 16	13 15 16
Position 7 frets 14–20	16 18 19	16 18 20	15 16 18	15 17 18	14 16 18	15 16 18

Chords in the G♯ melodic minor scale

Stacking every other note of the scale on each degree gives these chords. They are the chords a song in G♯ melodic minor is made from, and the chords this scale fits over.

	i	ii	♭III+	IV	V	vi°	vii°
Triad	G♯m	A♯m	Baug	C♯	D♯	E♯dim	F𝄪dim
7th chord	G♯mMaj7	A♯m7	Bmaj7♯5	C♯7	D♯7	E♯m7♭5	F𝄪m7♭5

Where you hear it

G♯ melodic minor is used in jazz, fusion and film music. It sounds best over minor 6 and minor-major 7 chords on the root.

Backing tracks to practise G♯ melodic minor

G♯ minor blues G♯ minor rock G♯ minor funk

How to practise it

Play position 1 (frets 4–9) slowly, up and down, saying the note names.
Play it with the pattern set to In 3s, then In 4s, at a tempo where every note is clean.
Learn position 2 and how it joins position 1: the notes they share are where your hand moves.
Switch the labels to degrees and find every G♯ (1) in each position.
Improvise over a backing track, ending your phrases on G♯.