melodic minor

In the melodic minor scale, the sixth and seventh notes of the scale are each raised by one half step when going up the scale, but return to the natural minor when going down the scale.

Rewrite each scale from Figure 4.18 as an ascending and descending melodic minor scale.

While the notes are identical in both, the effect upon the ear is different, according to the starting note, just as the descending melodic minor scale is de facto the same as the relative major scale, but not in its effect.

The melodic minor scale substitutes a tone one half-step higher than six as well as one a half-step higher than seven, but this change is made in the ascending scale only, the descending scale being like the primitive form.

The singer never uses either the raised 6th or 7th in ascending, as do moderns in the melodic minor, but adheres strictly to the old normal or natural minor form.