Chord Colors

C♯ Bebop Melodic Minor scale

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About the C sharp Bebop Melodic Minor scale

C sharp Bebop Melodic Minor is used for bebop solos over minor and minor-major chords. Think of it as a melodic minor with a chromatic passing tone added. It is C Diminished with the fifth raised.

Its notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, A, and B. The formula is W H W W H H W H.

Also called Minor Six Diminished and Barry Harris Minor Sixth.

Learn more about the C♯ Bebop Melodic Minor scale

In C Bebop Melodic Minor, the open strings sound E and A. On guitar, the deepest C within reach is the 4th fret of the A string. Capo the first fret to play C Bebop Melodic Minor with C-shape fingerings.

Positions

Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.

8-position system

8 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.

Position 1open
Position 2fr 2
Position 3fr 4
Position 4fr 5
Position 5fr 6
Position 6fr 8
Position 7fr 9
Position 8fr 11

Notes and intervals

1C#C♯Root
2D#D♯Major 2nd
3EEMinor 3rd
4F#F♯Perfect 4th
5G#G♯Perfect 5th
6AAAugmented 5th
7A#A♯Major 6th
8B#B♯Major 7th
StepsW H W W H H W H
Semitones2-1-2-2-1-1-2-1
Degrees1 2 3 4 5 5 6 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Bebop Melodic Minor in other keys

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Db Bebop Melodic Minor scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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