Bebop Melodic Minor

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Bebop scales are octatonic scales (meaning they have 8 notes), made popular by the the jazz musicians of the bebop era. The idea behind them is that a chromatic note is added to a normal scale, in this case a Melodic Minor scale, so that in a 4/4 time signature, all the chord tones fall on a strong beat and non-chord tones fall on an upbeat. Often jazz from this era was played at 200+ bpm so when playing these scales in 1/8th notes the musicians were able to achieve quick runs that hit all the right notes where it matters. For the Bebop Melodic Minor we add the minor 6th to the Melodic Minor scale as the additional note.

All positions:

Bebop Melodic Minor all positions

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Pattern 2

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Pattern 3

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Pattern 4

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Pattern 5

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