Ever wanted to learn to play the blues?
One of the fundamentals of learning the blues is learning the blues scale. So in this lesson I will show you how to play the blues scale for guitar.
There are some different variations on the blues scale but for the sake of this lesson we will be looking at just one variation. The most commonly used one.
Is the Blues Scale a Pentatonic Scale?
Technically the blues scale isn?t a pentatonic scale. This is because a pentatonic scale only uses 5 notes within the octave. However, it is pretty close to the minor pentatonic.
The blues scale (at least the one we are looking at here) has 6 notes so it’s technically a Hexatonic scale.
Learn the Pentatonic
If you haven’t yet learned the minor pentatonic I encourage you to do that first. After all you’ll only have to add one note to that scale to make the blues scale. You can check out my lesson on the minor pentatonic at the link below.
The Hexatonic Blues Scale
Now that you have learned the pentatonic all we have to do is add in one extra note.
To refresh:
The pentatonic is made up of 5 notes in the following pattern:
- Root
- 1 ? tone interval
- Whole tone
- Whole tone
- 1 ? tone
- Whole tone
So in the case of E minor pentatonic it would be
- E
- G
- A
- B
- D
- E
The blues scale adds in one extra note and goes like this.
- Root
- 1 ? tone interval
- Whole tone
- Semi-tone
- Semi-tone
- 1 ? tone
- Whole tone
So in the case of the E blues scale it is:
- E
- G
- A
- A#
- B
- D
- E
The only difference is adding the A#. Adding this sharpened 4th/flat 5th gives the scale a distinctive bluesy sound.
In saying that, the minor pentatonic itself could be used to play the blues and to jam with someone playing the blues – but incorporating that extra note really gives an even more distinctive bluesy sound with a bit more character.
O.k. let’s take a look at the tablature for this so you can start practicing this scale.
The Blues Scale on Guitar
O.k. let’s start out with just the notes of the scale. We will use the “E” blues scale as our example scale to start with.
e:------------------------| B:------------------------| G:------------------------| D:-----------------0--2---| A:--------0--1--2---------| E:--0--3------------------|
O.k. now let’s put that into an exercise that covers all of the notes in the open position.
e:-------------------------------------0--3--3--0----------------------| B:-------------------------------0--3--------------3--0----------------| G:----------------------0--2--3--------------------------3--2--0-------| D:----------------0--2--------------------------------------------2--0-| A:-------0--1--2-------------------------------------------------------| E:-0--3----------------------------------------------------------------| e:---------------------------------| B:---------------------------------| G:---------------------------------| D:---------------------------------| A:--2--1--0------------------------| E:-----------3--0------------------|
E Blues Scale Further up the neck
O.k. now is where things get interesting. Once you learn the pattern of the blues scale starting on the A string and starting on the E string then that pattern can be repeated anywhere depending on what key signature you are in.
Below is the E blues scale and this shows an example of the blues scale starting on the A string.
e:-----------------------------------7--10--10--7----------------------| B:------------------------8--10--11----------------11--10--8-----------| G:------------------7--9--------------------------------------9--7-----| D:---------7--8--9--------------------------------------------------9--| A:--7--10--------------------------------------------------------------| E:---------------------------------------------------------------------| e:---------------------------------| B:---------------------------------| G:---------------------------------| D:--8--7---------------------------| A:--------10--7----------------7---| E:---------------10--7--7--10------|
Now if you, for example, want to play the “D” Blues scale, then you would use this same pattern but this time starting on the 5th?fret A?string.
A Blues Scale
Below is the “A” blues scale and this shows an example of the blues scale starting on the E string.
e:--------------------------------------5--8--8--5---------------------| B:--------------------------------5--8--------------8--5---------------| G:-----------------------5--7--8--------------------------8--7--5------| D:-----------------5--7--------------------------------------------7---| A:--------5--6--7------------------------------------------------------| E:--5--8---------------------------------------------------------------| e:---------------------------------| B:---------------------------------| G:---------------------------------| D:--5------------------------------| A:-----7--6--5---------------------| E:--------------8--5---------------|
Now if you, for example, want to play the “G” Blues scale, then you would use this same pattern but this time starting on the 3rd fret E string.
Over to You
Now time for, you guessed it, practice!
If you enjoy the blues or really want to jam the blues with others this scale is big step in being able to do that. So practice it up and become really familiar with it and you could be improvising the blues in no time.
Thanks for reading and I hope this post has helped with your guitar progression.
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