The name of a melodic major scale appears (in Spanish-language theory, the escala mayor mixta secundaria). Your task is to draw its 8 notes on the staff. It is the major scale with the 6th and 7th lowered (♭6 and ♭7): a major scale "softened" by its two lowered upper degrees.
How to use the exercise: Click (or drag) on the staff to place each note. First choose the accidental with the ♭ ♮ ♯ buttons if the note needs one. Undo removes the last note and Clear restarts the exercise. The notes are sorted automatically from low to high. The magnifier shows the note you are about to place.
The pattern of the melodic major scale
The pattern is W – W – H – W – H – W – W (UK: tone and semitone). Because the 6th and the 7th are lowered together, there is no augmented second (unlike the harmonic major scale): the scale moves by whole steps and half steps.
| Degree | Step | C major | G major | F major |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | — | C | G | F |
| 2nd | W | D | A | G |
| 3rd | W | E | B | A |
| 4th | H | F | C | B♭ |
| 5th | W | G | D | C |
| 6th | H | A♭ | E♭ | D♭ |
| 7th | W | B♭ | F | E♭ |
| 8th | W | C | G | F |
Two lowered degrees, no augmented second
The melodic major scale keeps the major 3rd but lowers the 6th and the 7th. It is a major scale whose upper tetrachord (the top four notes) has the minor form. It has the same notes as the Mixolydian scale with a lowered 6th, and it differs from the harmonic major scale exactly in having no augmented second.
To lock these scales into your fingers, practice them with the online metronome at 60-70% of your target tempo, raising it by 5 BPM each time you play three repetitions without mistakes. The online tuner lets you check your tuning before you start. The dictionary of keys and scales has the full theory.
Printable worksheet (PDF)
The same exercise on paper, for class: eight melodic major scales to write without a key signature, with each accidental before its note. With a separate answer sheet, with the answers in red.
It goes from easier to harder: first key signatures with few accidentals in treble clef, then more accidentals and the bass clef.
Download the worksheet (PDF A4) Answers
You may print and photocopy the worksheets freely for the classroom. There are also worksheets of this same type for identifying and writing with a key signature, and in the scales index you can create custom worksheets, mixing whichever types you like.