G melodic minor scale

The notes

G minor has two flats, B♭ and E♭, the key signature of B♭ major, its relative major.

Key signature

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

What makes it melodic minor

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

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

Fingering

Right hand: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 going up. Going up, the thumb passes under the third finger from B♭ to C. The fourth finger plays F♯: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is. Over two octaves, the G in the middle takes the thumb instead of the fifth finger, and the pattern starts again.

Left hand: 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 going up. Going up, the third finger crosses over the thumb from D to E. The fourth finger plays A: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is. Over two octaves, the left hand starts on the fifth finger only once, at the bottom; the G in the middle takes the thumb.

Fingered like C major in both hands. In the right hand B♭ and E♭ both fall under the third finger, so the thumb passes under from a black key to C, and the hand stays well forward on the keys. In the left hand the thumb plays D and G.

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

Music in G minor

• Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, K. 550
• Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, Op. 23
• Bach’s “Little” Fugue in G minor, BWV 578

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 G melodic minor scale?

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

What is the fingering for the G melodic minor scale?

Going up one octave from G: right hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5, left hand 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1. Coming down: right hand 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1, left hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5. 1 is the thumb.

What key signature does G minor have?

Two flats (B♭ and E♭), the same as its relative major, B♭ major.