Steps: Whole, half, whole, whole, whole, whole, half

About the Melodic Minor scale

In classical theory, melodic minor raises the 6th and 7th going up and falls back to natural minor coming down, to avoid the wide leap of harmonic minor. Modern theory uses the rising form in both directions, sometimes called jazz minor. That is the form shown here.

What makes it sound the way it does

The bottom half is minor and the top half matches the major scale. It keeps the minor 3rd but drops natural minor's ♭6 and ♭7.