Blue Flat

Beginner Blues Scale Concepts

 

It’s the backbone of most licks and blues solos, the blues scale. In this article I want to share with you how the blues scale is built, how it’s similar yet different to the regular pentatonic scale and also how to best incorporate this into your playing.

Simple 5 Note Pentatonic Scale

There are five notes in the pentatonic scale. Some of those notes are played more then one time going up and down the scale. Here’s an example in tab of the pentatonic scale in A using one of the 5 shapes.

 

e———————–5-8-5——————————

B——————-5-8——-8-5————————–

G————–5-7—————–7-5———————

D———-5-7————————-7-5—————–

A——5-7———————————7-5————-

E–5-8——————————————8-5——–

Scale is played forwards and backwards in above example.

The Blues Note

There is only a 2 note different between the A blues scale and the A major pentatonic, these two notes are known as the blue notes. Here is the above A major pentatonic scale but with the blue notes added in.

 

e———————–5-8-5——————————

B——————-5-8——-8-5————————–

G————–5-7-8—————8-7-5—————–

D———-5-7————————–7-5—————-

A——5-6-7——————————–7-6-5———

E—5-8——————————————8-5——–

 

Added in are two notes one is the 8th fret of the G string and the other is the 6th fret on the A string. The blue notes are the flat 3rd and flat 7th (sometimes called the diminished rather then flat).

When you play through the scale up and down again you’ll hear those notes stick out. Those notes do have a blue tone to them. This would be known as the A major blues scale or blues pentatonic scale.

Using the Scale

Playing the scales up and down, up and down is good practice for your finger movements and speed but using this knowledge in every day jamming means creating and learning blues guitar licks. Blues licks are how you build great lead parts and solos.

The fastest method of learning blues this way is by practicing with jam tracks. Playing blues scales in a particular key over a backing track lets me experiment, come up with my own licks and incorporate other licks much faster.

To learn some more advanced concepts about the blues scale and in other keys you may want to check out some more advanced blues guitar lessons. With more understanding of the scales you’ll become a more versatile blues player.

Options to consider are private blues lessons, blues guitar dvd or even online video lessons available at some general lessons websites.

 

Blue Flat

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