It worked for the Beatles on Yesterday and it can work for you, too – here’s how to use the melodic minor scale to add intrigue to your songwriting and glide over minor chord progressions

A black-and-white image of Paul McCartney and John Lennon in striped suits, sharing the mic at Olympia Stadium, 1966.

The Melodic Minor scale was used by Paul McCartney the basis for Yesterday and in jazz standard Autumn Leaves to create a sense of airiness. It works a treat when soloing over minor chords, too...

It is another great scale choice to use over Minor progressions. It’s not too dissimilar to the Harmonic Minor as it also features a Major 7th interval.

However, the challenge with this scale when initially trying to incorporate it into your playing, is getting used to its sound. The Melodic Minor spelt out is 1-2-b3-4-5-6-7, and it’s that 6th interval that supplies its almost Major tonality, and it’s this that can make it sound a little odd when first using it in a Minor scenario.