What are the Melodic Minor Modes?

foreign, so when people talk about

modes

, the default assumption is that we're talking about the seven

modes

of the Ionian Dorian Phrygian major scale, etc. I have a bunch of other videos on them if you're interested, though, the word mode in music theory. The terms are a little broader than simply saying that all a mode really is is a scale that is derived from another scale by taking the pattern of full steps and half steps of the main scale and changing it to start in a different place, in other words. If you take a C major scale and make any note other than the root note, you get a mode.

Now, long time viewers of the channel will know that I hate this way of explaining mods because if you stop here in your explanation you literally leave it out. everything is interesting and useful about them, but I recognize that understanding this major mode relationship between scales can also be valuable, particularly for finding modes of scales in addition to the major scale, there are seven harmonic

minor

modes, for example, derived from the harmonic scale

minor

, there are two ways. of the diminished scale although no one calls them modes the whole half diminished scale and the half hole diminished scale although the diminished scale has eight notes only two modes can be derived because the pattern of whole steps and semitones that make up the scale is only two entries long before the full step and then the half step are repeated, there are seven main modes because the pattern of full steps and half steps in the major scale cannot be reduced to patterns smaller than the seven-note string, while the Full tone scale has no mode because its pattern is just one complete step that repeats over and over again.

If you've got your main modes down and are looking for something a little tastier, a hard mode of the same idea to dip into and explore you might want. To take a look at the

melodic

minor modes, the

melodic

minor scale for those who don't know is a minor scale with the sixth and seventh notes raised a half step or you could think of it as a major scale with the major third. down to a minor third and you play none of this this way by going up and then you flatten the sixth and the seventh by going down nonsense that's a scale exercise that's not a useful tool for analyzing any real music this is my rivalry between classical nerds and jazz nerds Coming out here anyway,

what

's so interesting about the melodic minor is that there are two tritones present in the scale where the major scale features a tritone between the fourth and seventh, the melodic minor scale features this same tritone as well as one between the flat. the third and natural six, all major scale modes share the same pattern as the major scale, naturally each contains a single tritone and it is arguable that the characteristic sound of each mode comes from where this tritone is placed in relation to The root, as I went into in my video on the Ionian mode, all melodic minor modes have two tritones and that leads to some very complex and, dare I say, wet sounds.

Let's go through the seven melodic minor modes one at a time and find out

what

they sound like and how they could be used for I'll say right up front that most of them don't see any play in video game music because some of them are pretty wild, but it still will be fun to play with them if you are willing to play with them. scales I'll give examples from video game music when I can and my own concoctions when I can't first let's look at the melodic minor scale itself, a minor sound with a raised 7th is amazing and will probably immediately make you think of James Bond, I'm James Bond , buy again and it will blow your mind.

I love the way Castlevania Symphony of the Night uses the scale in the dance of pearls to create a sense of gothic elegance, plus this section that literally goes up the melodic E minor scale over an E minor chord, the The main theme of the melody also focuses on the sound of the major 7th used over a minor chord with the melody hitting us over the head with one from the beginning, either using the movement of the scale or simply the tonic minor major 7 chord. Melodic minor scale has a powerful sound, you will notice that most of these modes are named after a corresponding major mode with some alteration.

The second mode of the melodic minor scale is a minor scale with a raised sixth and a flattened second, like the mode Dorian, but with a flat two, hence the name Dorian flat 2. Although it makes the same sense to call the sixth scale Phrygian raised, but I hadn't heard that before, so this is one you won't find. examples of music in the game or if you do let me know where it is a complex sound, it's not dark enough to be useful in dark intense environments but it's too dissonant to use for anything else, thanks augmented scale lydia , next one might be my personal favorite.

The third melodic minor mode is a major scale with a raised fourth and a raised fifth. It has the sharp fourth like the Lydian scale, but building a chord from the tonic note gives us an augmented chord, hence the name augmented Lydian. scale this is the scale of the 7 V sharp major chord, which is an impressive sound, so bright you can barely look at it. Unfortunately, I haven't found an example from a game yet, but you can use it as a fake resolution where you would. normally resolves to a major chord, make it an augmented Lydian chord rather than invoking an irreparable stinker on your audience foreign dominant scale The fourth mode of the melodic minor scale is possibly the most common, perhaps apart from the melodic minor scale In itself, it is a Mixolydian scale with a sharp fourth that gives us a combined Lydian and dominant sound.

Destiny's song The Great Unknown by the legendary Marty O'Donnell beautifully showcases the otherworldly sound of the scale. The piece is written for choir with different parts that use the dominant Lydian scale. Gradually layering over a low C bass pedal, the first two voices come in and perfectly capture the sound of the mode with the flat seventh and raised fourth emphasized when the lower voices come in, walking straight up the Lydian dominant scale of the sea ​​from the second to the root, the seven note pattern shifts its place against the straight eight beat pattern above it while repeating foreign foreign for a less ethereal use of chibi robo's sound a maiden's thoughts open into a chord dominant glide the melody walks around the sharp fourth over a G9 chord which injects a sense of strangeness into the piece, the way Wailing Melody reaches that sharp fourth at the beginning really captures the tumultuous inner feelings of a young maiden cutting through the Caterpillar chew toy in love with the Mixolydian flat sixth. the scale is a major scale with a flat six and a flat seven, somewhat opposite to the melodic minor mode, actually we should call it non-melodic major mode, no, it's a silly idea, let's stick with the mixolydian flat sex many times in classical music in a minor key.

The pieces will use a dominant V chord taken from the parallel major key, as the voice going from a raised seventh to the tonic is much stronger than the diatonic flat seven to one and creates a much clearer resolution, so what will happen is a minor key. The piece will use notes from the minor scale and then, when it comes time for a dominant V chord to arrive and establish a homecoming, the melody will make use of the raised sixth and seventh of the key on its way back to the tonic It probably won't sound all that strange or dissonant to you compared to the other melodic minor modes, as it is relatively common, especially in music that tries to sound vaguely classical in Flatlands.

From Octopath Traveler we see a D7 chord used in both E natural and A. B flat over the two notes that are characteristic of the mixolydian flat 6. moves towards a G major chord, not G minor, but still together notice how the E natural moves to an F sharp to reach G in the resolution chord. Many minor key V chords use the flatted 9th because it lends itself well to moving downward for resolution, but when you want resolution that moves upward, the mixolydian flatted sixth scale may be the way to go, the sixth mode of the melodic minor scale will stop You, in its tracks, is a Locrian scale with three flats, flat 5, flat 6 and flat 7, but with a natural second, this is not a sound I have heard in a video game.

You'll have to go see some Herbie Hancock. or Chick Corea, if you want to hear it in practice, you can use it when you really want to get the audience's attention with a half diminished chord with the natural ninth above or use the scale on top of a chord that would normally be minor but change the chord so that it has a fifth flat to give it a little more strange smell. The seventh and final mode of the melodic minor scale is something jazz nerds should know about. features not one, not two, but all four altered extensions that could possibly fit over a dominant one. chord hence the name altered scale the scale should technically be written like this a flat two flat three flat four flat five flat six flat seven but as we all know a flat 4 is just a more confusing way of writing a major third so what we get In practice, the root is the major third and flat seventh of a chord and then all the altered extensions are piled up between these chord tones, so think of it like this: root flat 9 sharp nine third sharp 11 flat 13 flat 7. this It's a It's a great way to stink up your dominant chords.

Most of the time you will see the altered scale used in the form of 9 sustained dominant chords, usually arranged in the voice made famous by Jimi Hendrix. root in the lower third, flat seventh and sharp ninth in the foreign upper part. We'll look at the change of seven sharp 9 chords used in the intro to I'll Take You There in My American Chibirobo Car. This example ends up getting more of a classic rock and roll sound than anything too strange or dissonant. The Super Smash Bros. Melee menu theme closes with this incredible move from G over C sharp to C over F sharp that sets up a return to B minor beginning to play a major triad, a tritone away from the root implying a altered sound as it gives you the flat fifth flat seventh and flat ninth of the scale thank you I hope you enjoyed this look at the melodic minor modes.

I've gotten a lot of comments throughout my core mode series asking me to talk about them, although there aren't tons of examples of game music to use. I thought I should explain them to you. If you enjoy what I do, please consider donating to my support page. Patreon. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you all next time.