F melodic minor scale

The notes

F minor has four flats, the key signature of A♭ major, its relative major.

Key signature

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

What makes it melodic minor

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

Coming down, it is the natural minor: E♭ and D♭ 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 4 1 2 3 4 going up. Going up, 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. Over two octaves, the F in the middle takes the thumb instead of the fourth 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 C to D. The fourth finger plays G: 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 F in the middle takes the thumb.

The right hand plays F major’s fingering, 1 2 3 4 then the thumb on C; the left hand keeps C major’s, with the third finger crossing over onto D♭.

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

Music in F minor

• Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata, Op. 57
• Chopin’s Ballade No. 4, Op. 52
• Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons

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 F melodic minor scale?

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

What is the fingering for the F melodic minor scale?

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

What key signature does F minor have?

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