Making sense of melodic minor to write melody

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   There are no doubt quite a few jazz standards that largely use the melodic minor scale or the bebop deviation, 
and I'm looking for inspiration. To be fair, I can only think of two - Nature Boy, and in a broader context, Yesterday. 
Typical melodic minor is a bit of a musical blind spot for me because of how close to major it is, despite that all 
important flat 3rd. The typical bleakness of a minor tonality doesn't seem to come across to me when I play the 
scale. What melodic motions, outside arpeggios based on the crucial chords, and drifting back to the minor 3rd, 
might help in writing gloomy noir-like melodies?

Edited by 4thGenTrombone - 03 Jun 2021 at 4:54am

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4thGenTrombone Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Newbie Joined: 29 May 2021 Location: Northampton Status: Offline Points: 4	Post Options Post Reply Quote 4thGenTrombone Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Making sense of melodic minor to write melody Posted: 03 Jun 2021 at 4:40am
	There are no doubt quite a few jazz standards that largely use the melodic minor scale or the bebop deviation, and I'm looking for inspiration. To be fair, I can only think of two - Nature Boy, and in a broader context, Yesterday. Typical melodic minor is a bit of a musical blind spot for me because of how close to major it is, despite that all important flat 3rd. The typical bleakness of a minor tonality doesn't seem to come across to me when I play the scale. What melodic motions, outside arpeggios based on the crucial chords, and drifting back to the minor 3rd, might help in writing gloomy noir-like melodies? Edited by 4thGenTrombone - 03 Jun 2021 at 4:54am

js Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Forum Admin Group Site admin Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 35399	Post Options Post Reply Quote js Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2021 at 5:06am
	If you are looking for melodic minor melodies, you will find way more in the world of classical music, particularly Russian music in the late 19th century, or the music of Chopin. Also JS Bach, for instance the "Bouree" melody that was adopted by Ian Anderson As for jazz, "My Funny Valentine" is in melodic minor for some bars. As for the scale's difference from the major scale you mentioned, it has a minor 6th and minor 7th in its descending form. Edited by js - 03 Jun 2021 at 7:46am

js Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Forum Admin Group Site admin Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 35399	Post Options Post Reply Quote js Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2021 at 5:08am
	I moved this to The Musicians Exchange.

js Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Forum Admin Group Site admin Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 35399	Post Options Post Reply Quote js Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2021 at 7:42am
	"Solar" is sort of in a melodic minor scale, but not entirely.