Build Melodic Minor Scales on the Staff: Exercise

The name of a melodic minor scale appears. Your task is to draw the complete scale, up and down: 15 notes. The melodic minor scale is one form that changes direction: ascending it raises the 6th and 7th; descending it undoes those accidentals and goes back to natural minor.

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 minor scale

Going up, the pattern is W – H – W – W – W – W – H (6th and 7th raised; UK: tone and semitone). Going down, those two raises are undone and the scale follows the degrees of the natural minor. These are not two different scales: it is the same scale, written and sung going up and going down.

Degree	Ascending ↑	Descending ↓
1st	A	A
2nd	B	B
3rd	C	C
4th	D	D
5th	E	E
6th	F♯	F
7th	G♯	G
8th	A	A

One scale that goes up and down

The melodic minor scale is the only scale of this section that changes with the direction. Going up it raises the 6th and 7th (A melodic minor: A-B-C-D-E-F♯-G♯-A). Going down it undoes both raises and sounds like the natural minor scale (A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A). That is why the exercise asks you to place all 15 notes in order: first the ascent with the accidentals, then the descent with the natural notes.

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.

Printable worksheet (PDF)

The same exercise on paper, for class: eight melodic minor scales to write without a key signature, with each accidental before its note. With a separate answer sheet, with the answers in red. The melodic minor is written in full, ascending and descending.

It goes from easier to harder: first key signatures with few accidentals in treble clef, then more accidentals and the bass clef.

Printable PDF worksheet for writing melodic minor scales — A4 sheet for writing melodic minor scales.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the melodic minor scale?

It is the minor scale that, on the way up, raises the 6th and the 7th (pattern W-H-W-W-W-W-H) to smooth the approach to the tonic, and on the way down undoes those accidentals, matching the natural minor. It is one scale with two directions.

Why is the melodic minor scale different going up and going down?

Going up, the 6th and 7th are raised to avoid the augmented second of the harmonic minor scale and to lead smoothly to the tonic. Going down, that lead is no longer needed, so the scale returns to natural minor.

What does the descending melodic minor scale look like?

It is exactly the natural minor scale read from the octave down to the tonic: 7th and 6th not raised. For example, A melodic minor descends A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A.

Why does it have 15 notes?

Because the melodic scale is understood as a complete round trip: 8 notes going up (from the tonic to the octave) and 7 going down (from the octave back to the tonic). The top note is shared, hence 15 notes.

How is it different from the harmonic minor scale?

The harmonic minor raises only the 7th and keeps the augmented second in both directions. The melodic minor raises the 6th and the 7th going up (no augmented second) and lowers them going down.