guitar scale
C melodic minor
C1D2E♭♭3F4G5A6B7
Minor third, major sixth and seventh — the ascending form, and the parent of most of the altered sounds below.
Written out
Every accidental is written in, rather than left to a key signature, so the letters can be read one at a time.
The step pattern
CWDHE♭WFWGWAWBHC
What is true of it
C melodic minor is C, D, E♭, F, G, A and B, and back to C.
Its steps are W – H – W – W – W – W – H, where W is a whole step and H a half.
On the same tonic, C major differs from it by exactly one note.
Across the first twelve frets of the guitar its notes fall in 46 places, which is what makes a scale a shape rather than a list.
Chords made only of these notes
Found by testing every chord in the catalogue against these 7 sounds, not chosen.
Other scales on C
C♯ mel minD♭ mel minD mel minD♯ mel minE♭ mel minE mel minF mel minF♯ mel minall 374