How to Practice Melodic Minor in All 12 Keys With One Tune (Invitation)
Nov 03, 2026Short answer: Practice melodic minor in all 12 keys by playing through the jazz standard Invitation. Its chords move through so many keys that, with two substitutions (F♯7sus♭9 instead of F♯7alt, and E7sus♭9 instead of E7alt), every melodic minor key shows up. Over each chord, play a melodic minor chord shape and a short line from it, all in one position. Then do the same in the other four positions.
With a couple of small tweaks, Invitation runs through every permutation of what I call the secret jazz chord, and so through every key of melodic minor. In the video I do it in one position, around the 5th; the PDF has it in all five. ▶ 0:09
The method
Don't just play through the chords. For every chord, play one of the secret jazz chord shapes and an ascending line over it. That way you're running all your melodic minor shapes in one position, and you also have an example of how to solo over each one. ▶ 1:31
- Treat every minor chord as melodic minor. You could play Dorian over them, but for this exercise, approach C minor as C melodic minor, and so on. ▶ 2:05
- The chord shape: the secret jazz chord, a four-note melodic minor voicing (here's the secret jazz chord video). On screen, the first one, C-9, is E♭ A D G. ▶ 2:42
- The lines are variations on my earlier melodic minor lines video. To make each one easy to remember, I end it as close as possible to the top note of the chord. ▶ 3:39
- Think of the scale, not just the shape. When I play E♭7♯11, I'm not only thinking of the shape, I'm thinking "this is B♭ melodic minor." That reminds me of other ideas I can use over it. ▶ 7:43
You can practice anything over these chords: the full scale up and down, arpeggios or lines. Lines are just more interesting for a YouTube video. ▶ 5:01
The two substitutions
When I went through Invitation as written, two keys were missing. So I made two switches: ▶ 5:34
| Written chord | Play instead | Why |
|---|---|---|
| F♯7alt | F♯7sus♭9 | Works as a substitution anyway, and adds a missing key |
| E7alt | E7sus♭9 | Same: works as a substitution and adds the other missing key |
Chord by chord
These are the chords in the order I play them in the video, in one position. There are five secret jazz chord shapes in all; most chords reuse one you've already played. ▶ 7:13
| Chord | Shape | Note |
|---|---|---|
| C-9 | Shape 1 | Line from the melodic minor lines video ▶ 2:42 |
| F13 | Same as C-9 | ▶ 3:05 |
| B♭13 | Shape 2 | New line, starting with an eighth-note rest ▶ 3:05 |
| E♭-9 | Shape 3 | The line quotes a bit of the Invitation melody ▶ 3:56 |
| A♭13 | Same as E♭-9 | ▶ 4:25 |
| D♭13 | Shape 4 (B♭ on top) | ▶ 4:25 |
| C♯-7 | A shape you've already had | Start of the bridge ▶ 4:50 |
| F♯7sus♭9 | Already had | Substitute for F♯7alt ▶ 6:11 |
| B-9 | Already had | Awkward for me in this position, which shows me what to practice ▶ 6:14 |
| E7sus♭9 | Substitute for E7alt ▶ 6:46 | |
| A-9 | Shape 5 | The last of the five shapes ▶ 7:00 |
| D7alt | Same as E♭-9 | ▶ 7:13 |
| G- | ▶ 7:13 | |
| E♭7♯11 | Play the 13 voicing | From B♭ melodic minor ▶ 7:43 |
| D7alt, then G7alt | G7alt = same as D♭13 | ▶ 8:08 |
| Back to the top, then E♭- for two bars | ▶ 8:20 | |
| B7♯11 | G♯ on top | The coda ▶ 8:20 |
| F-7♭5 | Move the shape up | ▶ 9:28 |
| B♭7alt | Same as B-9 | Both come from B melodic minor ▶ 9:28 |
| E♭-Maj.7 | Shape with the 6th raised a whole step | The final chord ▶ 10:11 |
Two variations on the shapes
Get the ♯11. On the B7♯11, if you really want the ♯11 in the voicing, raise the note on the 2nd string up two frets. It's a nice way to get some variety from the secret jazz chord shapes; I still think of it as the same shape, but now I have more than five voicings. ▶ 8:56
Minor-major 7 chords. For E♭-Maj.7, start from one of the secret jazz chord shapes and move the 6th (C) up a whole step to D. That gives you a voicing for minor-major 7, and you can do this in a bunch of places. You're not playing the E♭ itself; the bass player covers it. ▶ 10:11
Find your weak spots
Doing this shows you which keys you avoid. B minor isn't a natural key for me in this position, and you can hear it when I play it. That tells me what I need to practice. ▶ 6:29 It's the same with B7♯11 later: B isn't a natural key for me in this position, so it's a good way into unexplored territory. ▶ 9:28
The PDF has all of this notated in all five positions, every key, every shape: get the Invitation melodic minor PDF. ▶ 10:51
Frequently asked questions
How do you practice melodic minor in all 12 keys?
Play through a tune whose chords use every melodic minor key. Invitation does it if you swap F♯7alt for F♯7sus♭9 and E7alt for E7sus♭9. Over each chord, play a melodic minor chord shape and a short line, one position at a time.
Which jazz standard uses every melodic minor key?
Played as written, Invitation misses two keys. With two substitutions (7sus♭9 chords in place of two altered dominants), it covers all 12.
Can you play melodic minor over minor 7 chords?
For this exercise, yes: approach every minor chord as melodic minor (C melodic minor over C minor) instead of Dorian.
What is the secret jazz chord?
It's what I call a four-note chord shape built from melodic minor. The same shape works over several chords: over C-9 it's E♭ A D G, and that shape also covers F13.
How do you voice a minor-major 7 chord on guitar?
Take a secret jazz chord shape and raise its 6th a whole step. In E♭ minor, the C goes up to D. The bass player covers the root.
Keep learning
- How Joe Pass creates lines with scarpeggios: Joe Pass lines built off the secret jazz chord shape
- Pat Martino's minor conversion: another way to think of every chord as a minor sound
- 4 jazz standards to master jazz harmony: more tunes that teach a lot of harmony at once
Go deeper
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