Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
A Major Blues Scale
Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.
Tap any note to hear it.
A Major Blues Scale tab: all 5 positions
Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.
e|-------------------5-7-8-| B|---------------5-7-------| G|-----------5-6-----------| D|---------7---------------| A|-------7-----------------| E|-5-7-8-------------------|
e|-------------------------7-8-9-| B|--------------------7-10-------| G|------------------9------------| D|-----------7-9-10--------------| A|-------7-9---------------------| E|-7-8-9-------------------------|
e|------------------------------9-12-| B|------------------------10-12------| G|-------------------9-11------------| D|-----------9-10-11-----------------| A|------9-12-------------------------| E|-9-12------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------12-14-| B|----------------------12-13-14-------| G|-------------------14----------------| D|----------------14-------------------| A|-------12-14-15----------------------| E|-12-14-------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------14-17-| B|-------------------------------14-17-------| G|----------------------14-16-17-------------| D|----------------14-16----------------------| A|-------14-15-16----------------------------| E|-14-17-------------------------------------|
How to play A Major Blues on guitar
Find the root first: A is at fret 5 on the low E string and fret 0 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every A on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (3, 5), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 5–8. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | A |
| 2 | B |
| ♭3 | C |
| 3 | C# |
| 5 | E |
| 6 | F# |
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Practise A Major Blues anywhere, even offline.
This page is a small slice of Fretwise. The app adds practice: exercises that play as tab, a new routine every day, and the tools to tune and keep time. On iPhone, iPad and Android, no sign-up.
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Questions
- What notes are in the A Major Blues Scale?
- The A Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: A, B, C, C#, E, F#.
- What is the formula of the major blues scale?
- 1 2 ♭3 3 5 6, which is the step pattern W H H W+H W W+H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play A Major Blues on the guitar?
- The root A is at fret 5 on the low E string and fret 0 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 5–8, and four more positions connect it up the neck.