What scale runs through an A+7

[bluesman]

I'm playing an A scale with a raised 5th and 6th, or I suppose it might be better to say with a b6 and b7. (A, B, C#, D, E, F, G, A).

What scale is this?

[Clifford-D]

You can find your answer for this and just about anything else here
It's a powerful tool

Choose the scale key, then scroll through the scales in a second box ( on the left)
and keep looking in the third lower box (details), that displays interval structures till
there's a match.

I didn't xplain it well but it's easy.

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhous.../index_rb.html.

[shigihara]

Originally Posted by bluesman

I'm playing an A scale with a raised 5th and 6th, or I suppose it might be better to say with a b6 and b7. (A, B, C#, D, E, F, G, A).

What scale is this?

A mixolydian b6.... 5th scale degree of D melodic minor...

[jb70]

the chromatic scale will also work

[Lammy]

Whole tone, Altered,
depends on teh 9th, flatted or sharp is altered and natural 9th will be whole tone.

[fusion58]

Originally Posted by shigihara

A mixolydian b6.... 5th scale degree of D melodic minor...

Ding ding ding! :AOK

[JonR]

Originally Posted by bluesman

I'm playing an A scale with a raised 5th and 6th, or I suppose it might be better to say with a b6 and b7. (A, B, C#, D, E, F, G, A).

What scale is this?

D melodic minor, as shigihara says.

Lammy's two choices - wholetone and altered - are more "correct" (ie conventional) for an A+7 chord (A7#5), because it has a raised 5th. (A mixolydian b6 has a perfect 5th and minor 6th.

A wholetone = A B C# D# E#(F) G

The altered scale would also work, which uses both b9 and #9 in place of the major 9:

A altered = A Bb C C# D# F G (= Bb melodic minor)

To a jazz musician, the A mixolydian b6 scale is not ideal because it has an avoid note: D. (Sounds bad if held over the chord)

However, there's no hard and fast rules here. Every note in the chromatic scale is usable - provided you understand how they all work with the chord. (That's how the above scale choices have evolved - they seem to work best in most situations.)

[bluesman]

Thanks for the replies guys. Your answers got me to do some more digging around and discovered I was playing Bb melodic minor over the A+7 which I've come to learn is quite common - playing the melodic minor scale that is a half-step up from the chord, that is. Cool stuff.