Hi M.Ted. I found your last two posts very interesting because they discussed the different kinds of minor scales; I've been trying to sort this out. Every reference I seek out describes the intervals found in natural, melodic, and harmonic minors, but I haven't been able to find anything (by reading, or by asking people) about how they are used.

Are there general rules as to who uses which kind of minor scale and when? You say that classical composers typically use melodic minors. What about natural and harmonic? Do the names melodic and harmonic have any significance, i.e., you would use one to play melodies and the other to play harmonies?

Another thing I wonder about melodic minor is how you know if you'd use the ascending or descending forms, assuming you're playing the melody that's going up and down all the time rather than a long scale-like run.

Let me rephrase the question: if you had your guitar and I asked you to play me an Am scale, what exactly would you play? Or would you say that the request was meaningless and that you needed to know which Am scale I meant?

I did ask this same question on Mudcat a year ago, but the resulting discussion was about modes. I'm not talking about modes, or pentatonic or other gapped scales, but the 7 tone minor scales described in classical textbooks.

Thanks, Marion