4 Melodic Minor Substitutions that'll ROCK your world

The melodic minor scale... it was something I simply couldn't get to grips with for SO long!
Don't get me wrong, I could play it up and down the neck and back to front - but I just couldn't "hear it"... when I tried to use it within my lines it just ended up sounding too forced, or simply just wrong.
So, I ditched for a while... then went back to it... then I ditched it... then I went back to it... then ditched it... I'm sure you get the idea!
Years after I originally learned the scale, I stumbled upon an article someone had written focusing on how to use the melodic minor over dominant chords by playing it up half a step from the root - in other words playing the super locrian mode.
I think the original article was written by a sax player... but I could be wrong... I sometimes forget what I've done 2 minutes ago!
That article opened a HUGE can of worms for me... and not only did it help me find "that sound" I was looking for with the melodic minor - it also led me to discover a whole new set of substitutions you can use of dominant chords.
It's those substitutions I want to show you in this lesson.
I've had a heap of fun with them for such a long time - I'm hoping you do too!
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[@videoschiche8367]

Scott, you're a great teacher! You make me play better, cleaner and, most of all, cleverly. Thanks for your generosity.

[@GiancarloYanesBass]

loving these vlog style videos

[@devinebass]

Ahhh cheers man! :)

[@GiancarloYanesBass]

Scott's Bass Lessons yea no problem man. you think you can check out my channel and see how I'm playing you have helped a lot

[@TheSeanSnider]

I was just about to say the same. These are great.

[@devinebass]

Thanks for checking them out Sean :)

[@fudgesauce]

I have to admit I feel the opposite way. I am a subscriber to SBL, but I have been away for many months because work and life have been to hectic and my bass collects dust. But I'm trying to get my priorities sorted and so I'm dipping into to the SBL videos there and free on youtube. It was quite surprised at the new vlog format, and not in a good way. Time is still in short supply, and I don't want to see a three second jump cut of Scott adjusting the framing of the camera and tell us that he is adjusting it so we can see him. The first four minutes are fluff. That is great if you are digging on scott's personality (no knock -- scott is a great guy, but that isn't why I come here). Anyway, my four cents.

[@jeffs.1999]

Really great stuff. Love the format. Who really cares about extraneous noise? Scott and his bass shall always shine through! Thanks a bunch! Jeff BC Canada.

[@jimhughes1070]

Absolutely love that video Scott... straight to the bass!

[@MrCpd20]

Go Scott ! a day in the life :) liking those new V Log style videos !

[@ronniecraft3895]

very good teaching,i will have to watch more than a few times a lot to learn . thanks Scott ! oh love all the humor in this real fun!!!!

[@Supaevilman]

Sweet lesson, Scott! Really helpful way of explaining melodic minor concepts so that even us guitar players can find something to apply from it!

[@angelspake81]

I'm not in the academy,I'm a talking bassmember but I love the way you teach substitutions over chord tones.

[@karizmatic5]

YES TO THIS!!! Thank you Scott! I have wanted to woodshed stuff like this for a long time, but just never knew how to describe it. I have a lot of work to do.

[@luifer.00]

I like how he nearly falls over after finishing that little solo in the beginning lmao

[@i.am.miftah]

Listen man, if this is a weekly(fortnightly even!) thing, I'm all up for it; in fact I WANT these kind of vlogs but just DON'T EVE STOP doing these!

[@joetaylor1916]

cheers for the shoutout at 2:11 Scott ;) loving your vids man, learn a lot

[@ScoobySTi777]

Another brilliant vid,keep up the great work!

[@JohnAldenDavis]

"So you'll hear people say..." Those last two words got me thinking about the song by The Meters. One of my favorite tunes to play!

[@christopherbrown5278]

Dig it. Love those tonalities and I like how some of them sound over minor too Great video.

[@meatwad61]

Wow, thanks so much as always Scott!! Stoked to bust some of these out. Been struggling using dissonance in a way that isn't too jarring/un-musical, as naturally I play a lot of dissonant notes haha. This will be very helpful. Please keep this style of tutorial up! :) cheers from VT

[@markkangas7774]

Wow! I never would have placed a G flat melodic minor over an F dom. And the rest are visionary as well. Great job on the explanations, Scott!

[@Adrian-dl9nb]

I love these vlogs, you have a great sense of humour

[@devinebass]

Thanks Adrian!

[@olivergerardo8413]

you all prolly dont care at all but does any of you know of a trick to log back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the login password. I appreciate any tips you can give me.

[@rowankole3412]

@Oliver Gerardo instablaster =)

[@olivergerardo8413]

@Rowan Kole i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im in the hacking process atm. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.

[@olivergerardo8413]

@Rowan Kole it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy:D Thanks so much you saved my ass!

[@martinwassenius5725]

Absolutely loving the POG sound!

[@maddoxtroy683]

Dude! Lovin all of it!! Glad to be your student

[@bertimel]

Would love to see more sweet possible substitutions like that over chordtypes or changes! :)

[@isuckatguitar12]

Video starts at 3:38

[@nunobarbosaonline]

Great, great, great substitutes. Thanks.

[@jeffs.1999]

....the Harmonic Layering Course. Worth its weight in gold!

[@JCloyd-ys1fm]

This was super useful. I’ll have to enroll to your academy one of these days.

[@Oj4y1]

Best one yet!!!

[@andypalmer43]

Nice delivery on all levels :-)

[@JulianFernandez]

Great vid. Thanks!

[@BenjaminSchiltzVlogs]

Scott you rock pal, I'm glad I joined your community. If I didn't then I wouldn't have met Rufus Philpot and he is now my teacher. So cool.

[@ajadrew]

Rufus did some cool Chameleon stuff today..:-))

[@BenjaminSchiltzVlogs]

Ya I saw that today.

[@luismarialucero8055]

awesome video thanks!

[@JesseJB-1990]

i like your sense of nonchalance in this video :)

[@andreasfleiner4671]

please do a course for the academy with adam neely in NY :) would be awesome

[@davidhammers9708]

it happened! apparently it's coming out in December

[@success_reigns]

Good placement!! @ 12:19-12:21 love a great musician wit crazy timing 😂

[@irvinggonzalez575]

awesome vid

[@angelspake81]

Does he not mention a Harmonic Layering Course in this lesson

[@redacted2564]

I now use 2 at once to get a wild sound sometimes I start on the CMM over the F for 4 notes then switch to the BbMM to finish it out

[@situacionando]

Nice!

[@flavy1000]

Love the minor flavour...you made this clearer to me ...Thks a lot..btw which effwct is there on your bass? Reminds me on Mike Stern´s on guitar =)

[@jazzman1954]

Known about the MM on the fifth and flat nine for years. The fourth and flat seventh = a whole new set of options. They are all just alterations of the Dom seven of course but they do have a different sound. Interesting!!

[@sheponbass]

Wow, this just demonstrates how much I don't know! I'm a self-taught, play-by-ear bassist that has next to no clue musically. I can see the benefits of knowing your shit (as opposed to knowing you're shit), but where to start?! In the meantime, loving the vids, hoping to soak up some of the groove!

[@richarddunn324]

Great!

[@thierrypaulltbs]

Hello Scott , thanks for your videos. About the minor melodic modes, up a fifth is lydian dominant ok, up a fourth is myxolidian flat 13 ok, up a minor second is superlocrian ok again. But i don't seem to understand the "whole step down" one. Please, could you tell us what justifies the use of this mode ? As it doesn't have a major third to make it F7 friendly... BECAUSE, in that case, it's only a dorian flat nine mode.... we get the same kind of sharp nine effect with a regular dorian over a seven chord, or also with a aeolian mode, although they already have a regular nine in them. otherwise, the result is quite interesting.

[@Echront]

Hi Scott! Can you give me a hint of what kind of bass amp should i buy? I'm a really NEWBIE on bass, i just need an amp to play in my house and excercise. Better if i don't have to sell one of my kidney to buy something nice! Just looking for a "good sound" and light weight. Thank you and keep goin with your amazing vid! :D ps: sorry for my bad english :P

[@CharlieEvansBristol]

good vid man. Quick frequency thing. The reason the POG makes things easier to hear is that our ears are tuned to the 3-5k range. That's were most vocal frequencies are found so you clicking the POG in boosts those that our ears love. it's also why that frequency range is very important when mixing music. You don't want to boost too much around there or your ear gets fatigued quickly.

[@ErixSamson]

Very cool. Is there a "dictionary" of substitutions somewhere? (and explanation of why they work).

[@pacolopez9577]

Maybe a lesson on the melodic minor sometime please? Great vid btw!

[@devinebass]

Hey Paco, make sure to watch all the video - I go into melodic minor substitutions in great detail so I'm sure there'll be some cool stuff for you in there. Groove on brother!

[@herrschnupke4044]

Hey Scott, very cool lesson man! The most dissonant substitution, a semitone above works particulary well if the dominant chord is resolving home to the one chord right? I also knew about the substitution up a fifth. It's a less dissonant one and works nicely if the dominant chord doesn't resolve home. Then I discovered on my own the whole tone down substitution, (my favourite one by the way) but couldn't find any theoretical background about it. Now i found it in your lesson. Didn't know about the one up a fourth yet. Thank you for clearing things up. Very nice!!! :)

[@gingerjam2192]

But it works great too when you get back home to F mixolydian in a modal F7 context.

[@garfd2]

The +1 Semitone Mel-Min (or the 7th mode of the mel-min scale if you like :) ) is the most dissonant because it doesn't even have the natural 5th, it's got a #5 instead (along with a #4 etc.). Sounds awesome with the DOM7, which is why theory is just theory when all's said and done, but it also fits perfectly over a 7#5#9.

[@garfd2]

C MelMin -> F Lydian Dominant (Mode IV) Eb MelMin -> F Phrygidorian (Mode II) Bb MelMin -> F Mixaeolian (Mode V) Gb MelMin -> F Altered (Mode VII)

[@jabulanikwaramba2297]

Haha finally get to see D Mac

[@mathiashls]

12:04 remind me of Super Mario World somehow :D

[@craigs19721972]

Hello Scott could you post some videos with your ideas how to solo over jazz standards? That be great!!

[@louisjuelgertz6632]

+

[@gorsky84]

Oh men what a licks! Is this topic covered somewhere in the SBL Academy?

[@angelspake81]

Can you add tableture and notation in the info below like Mark's you tube.The tableture and notation in the info below make it where I can actually study it

[@groovinonfunk]

what are some cool reharmonization substitution you can do over major and minor chords? this is awesome for dominants!

[@kazukitakahashi1415]

Could you tell me what pedal you're using in this video ?

[@BroscoWankston]

Pog octaver most likely. I like to use 100% wet signal of the suboctave (not the high octave) and play uop by tge 13th fret for a synthy tone in electronica. Use slight compression and chorus too for nice effect.

[@thisisEHAM]

In what setting do you apply these? And when he says F dominant is he implying that we're ultimately in Bb here?

[@Sol-qq8bb]

THAT CAR

[@sigiriabeysekara8723]

Starts at 3:41

[@Bflatest]

Im working of riffs whereI combine all or two at a time of these modes hehehehe

[@osvaldodavidcisneros1729]

Excellent your videos, subtitulos in Spanish please. greetings from Argentina

[@angelspake81]

Harmonic Layering Course at the academy or am I not hearing

[@pcmsorchestras8533]

killin

[@billsherrington5996]

Great video thanks! One question:- why when you are going up the scale do you say 9th instead of 2nd and 13th rather than 6th?

[@Felltaint]

9ths, 11ths and 13ths are used when describing chords/harmony, and usually those chords are dictating the scales or modes you're choosing, so it's just another way of linking those concepts internally. Seems to help when you start to think of intervals as multiple labels simultaneously, and you can easily interchange the names.

[@scottmckenney8934]

C D E F G A B C "D"....1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "9"th So D is the 2nd and 9th of a c scale.

[@billsherrington5996]

Scott McKenney yes I know that a 9th is an octave above a 2nd but asked why he said Root, 9th, 3rd, 4th etc rather than root, 2nd, 3rd

[@scottmckenney8934]

Because a 9th sounds difinitively different from a 2nd, a 9th is a wider interval.

[@billsherrington5996]

Scott McKenney he was just ascending a scale , not playing a harmony

[@user-wq6qk2rz7r]

Good day, please write the name of the effect you are using, the brand and model, very cool sound !!!

[@BeErnyify]

I looked it up... the Name "POG", that he mentions, refers to the Electro Harmonix Polyphonic Octave Generator (as far, as typing "bass effect pog" into google gave me) though there might be similar effects by other brands

[@user-wq6qk2rz7r]

Thank you for your advice, and I have found))

[@whitorblius]

Would this work over any dominant chord, including substitutions etc?

[@markkangas7774]

He did mention that all of his substitutions would work over ANY dominant chord. As far as the substitutions go...these are substitutions. I would think they wouldn't get in the way of guitar solos as long as they're used in bassline context.

[@Vampier]

10 ways to be a better bass player. #7 changed my life!!! (You really don't need click bait headlines) :P

[@RandLoreTwo]

I'm sure you've answered this question a thousand times... But why do you wear a glove on your left hand? is it a rubber glove? or is it a fabric glove two make the next slippery r? Is it on the fingertips as well

[@nickeshchauhan5661]

He has a neurological condition which makes his fingers twitch unconsciously when outstretched, which can make playing more difficult. For some reason when something (like a glove) is touching his hand it helps to stops the tremors. It has nothing to do with tone or protecting the fingertips. If you search on youtube you'll be able to find a video where he discusses it in more detail. Hope this helps :)

[@RandLoreTwo]

Yeah thanks... Just curious. Interesting how it works. For him.

[@carlboiter6901]

wow

[@pepas346]

very Mononeon sound

[@lamusico7746]

My Theory teacher taught me that it is a good idea to go up in a melodic minor then go down in a natural minor, is this applicable here?

[@MaggaraMarine]

You are talking about the traditional way of using the minor key. Most of the time in minor key songs when the melody goes up, you raise the 7th to give it a bit more tension and release. Try playing the natural minor scale up and when you come back to the root of the scale, it does sound like you have arrived back home, but there was really not that much tension in the first place so the resolution is not that strong. Now try playing it with a raised 7th and when you come back to the tonic, it sounds a lot stronger. When you only raise the 7th of the natural minor scale, it's referred to as "harmonic minor". The major 7th or the _leading tone_ gives a lot of harmonic tension that has a strong tendency to resolve back to the tonic, and this is where the name "harmonic minor" comes from. But a lot of the time the leap between the minor 6th and the major 7th sounds a bit awkward and it's not the easiest interval to sing either, so many times when the major 7th is used, you also raise the 6th to avoid the awkward leap between the minor 6th and the major 7th. This is called the "melodic minor" because it gives you smoother melodies. The leading tone wants to resolve up to the tonic so it sounds natural to use it in melodies that go up. But when you go down, it's not necessary to create tension by using the leading tone, because the tension won't resolve (I mean, you would resolve the tension the leading tone creates by going up, but the melody is going down so the tension wouldn't resolve). This is why many times in minor songs when the melody is going down, you use the natural minor scale. But there are also plenty of examples of using the melodic minor (raised 6th and 7th) when the melody is going down. But this lesson is treating the melodic minor scale a bit differently. We are technically not talking about the actual melodic minor, but some new scales that just happen to use the same notes as the normal melodic minor scale. We are not talking about the minor key any more, we are talking about using a certain scale over a certain chord. These scales really have little to do with the traditional melodic minor that you would use in a minor key song. In this lesson these scales are used for coloring the dominant chord in different ways.

[@klisher]

is that big trouble in little china 2:34

[@devinebass]

certainly is!

[@klisher]

im 2 or 3 years older than you and used to watch that all the time late 80s. brilliant.

[@jcookonbass]

Wow these are filthy ideas.

[@MrDiscordinated]

How many p basses do u have

[@YukonDan]

These are the Barry Harris substitutions! Just using minor instead of dominant

[@pugilisticfront6777]

sharp 11 ?

[@markbass354]

Scott they put your steering wheel on the wrong side of the car

[@bsul03420]

You know all this stuff so well that your explanation is rushed and, consequently, confusing. In the first substitution, you give the intervals related to the C melodic minor scale, so I assumed the same would apply to the other substitutions but for the E flat and B flat versions the intervals were related to the F major scale. Also, I'm not sure why you refer to the A flat (in E flat MM) as a sharp 9 and not a minor third and where the natural 13 is in the B flat MM?

[@TicTacTowmusic]

If you like how this guy plays, check out Michael league of snarky puppy .

[@christopherlord3441]

You should call this the ascending melodic minor because the descending melodic minor is different.

[@stefanomorbidelli8878]

In classical music, yes. But descending melodic minor Is just Natural minor or Aeolian.

[@michaelmarini3123]

Love your stuff but did you know that y'all drive on the wrong side of the road...!!!! :)

[@RobertWadlow292]

Kind of sounded like an arab type scale territory you were getting into with your bass lines there

[@xlfc]

Shouldn't it have been played different, while descending? Every player that I've watched play that the same ....why?

[@abdulattar1429]

next time just get into it.

[@user-zt2wc3uh1l]

So if F is the dominant (V) chord, that means the key is Bb. So it has a Bb and Eb in it. How can you play a B natural in this key? That doesn't make any sense. That's a wrong note in this key. Then you use an Eb melodic minor over the F, which has an F# in it, again that's a wrong note in this key. Oh yeah, it's jazz.... it doesn't make any sense to me.

Dominant it's another way to say a Major chord with minor Seven. F7 in this case. Only focusing in the chord, not the context (scale)

[@user-zt2wc3uh1l]

That does not explain why you can throw a B natural in there instead of a Bb.

..??. That explain EXACTLY why he's using a B. "Dominant it's another way to call ANY Major chord with minor Seven. F7 in this case. ONLY focusing in the chord, NOT the context (scale)" In every scale he plays, there are F A C Eb. The notes that you can play in BETWEEN this notes is the point of this lesson

[@user-zt2wc3uh1l]

In what other key would an F7 pop up? A few I suppose, but then some notes would be different...but this why jazz makes no sense to me. and no one can adequately explain stuff like this.

[@user-zt2wc3uh1l]

Wait...there are no other keys where an F7 would be used except for Bb because every other key would have either an Ab or E natural. Jazz is fkkkked up...maybe that's why it's died out. Or maybe I have some kind of mental block and this stuff just does not register.

[@Dekutard]

M

[@michaelanthony9068]

I must need a better bass.

[@tashamcmanus]

I could play for 400 years and not touch your skill level. Haha, hope I have a decent personality at least.

[@ajadrew]

Kept away from your stuff coz everything took so long to get to the point... I prefer this kinda style

[@thomasthorson3357]

Please ditch the POG. This is insane for a real bass player to listen to.

[@thomasthorson3357]

I love your ideas! I'm just completely distracted by the crazy effect.

[@Jakecmuir]

Thomas Thorson I love it, it's like a horn line that doubles all his licks

[@christocr]

Thing is, playing those down an octave is going to mask all of that interesting tension. As someone else here mentioned you just don't hear the intricacies of that harmonic structure with the low notes. That's one of the main reasons the bass is traditionally holding the root and the melody instruments are going all over the place. Most purely melodic bass solos are played way up the neck for a reason.

[@marissabergen9475]

Can you get rid of the BS and just provide bass lessons like you used to? Thanks!

[@octopusjjsnook]

3 1/2 mins of BS before we get the stuff.