E♭ melodic minor scale

The notes

E♭ minor has six flats, the key signature of G♭ major, its relative major. It sounds the same as D♯ minor.

Key signature

E♭ minor has six flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭) in its key signature, the same as G♭ major, its relative major. The melodic minor adds two accidentals going up, C and D, and takes them back coming down.

What makes it melodic minor

The melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh notes going up, C♭ to C and D♭ to D, so it climbs smoothly to the tonic, without the harmonic minor’s gap. Going up, it differs from E♭ major only in its third note, G♭.

Coming down, it is the natural minor: D♭ and C♭ again, written here with courtesy accidentals. (Jazz players use the ascending form both ways, and call it the jazz minor.)

Fingering

Right hand: 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 going up. Going up, the thumb passes under the third finger from E♭ to F and the thumb passes under the fourth finger from B♭ to C. The fourth finger plays B♭: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is.

Left hand: 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 going up. Going up, the fourth finger crosses over the thumb from F to G♭ and the third finger crosses over the thumb from C to D. The fourth finger plays G♭: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is.

The right hand starts on its third finger and puts the thumb on F at once, the fourth finger on B♭. The left hand starts on its second finger, the thumb on F, and the fourth finger crosses onto G♭.

Chords in E♭ minor

The triads built on each note of the scale going up. Most music in a minor key mixes chords from all three forms; the ones below are the melodic minor’s.

• i E♭ minor
• ii F minor
• III+ G♭ augmented
• IV A♭ major
• V B♭ major
• vi° C diminished
• vii° D diminished

Music in E♭ minor

• The Prelude in E♭ minor from Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 853)
• Chopin’s Étude Op. 10 No. 6

How to practise it

• Hands separately first, slowly, saying the finger numbers. Fingering learned slowly stays; fingering found at speed changes every time.
• Practise the thumb crossings alone: play just the notes either side of each crossing, back and forth, until the thumb is in place before it’s needed.
• Then hands together, one octave, then two. The hands cross their thumbs at different places, which is what makes scales hands together hard at first.
• Use “Play along” above: it waits for each note, so you can check every note and finger at your own pace. Then Listen at ♩ = 72 and play with it.

Quick answers

What are the notes of the E flat melodic minor scale?

E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C D E♭ going up, E♭ D♭ C♭ B♭ A♭ G♭ F E♭ coming down.

What is the fingering for the E flat melodic minor scale?

Going up one octave from E♭: right hand 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3, left hand 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2. Coming down: right hand 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3, left hand 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2. 1 is the thumb.

What key signature does E♭ minor have?

Six flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭), the same as its relative major, G♭ major.