Guitar scale · minor blues scale
Bb Blues Scale
Minor pentatonic with the added ♭5 (Blue Note) for characteristic emotional grit.
Tap any note to hear it.
Bb 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|-------------------------6-9-| B|---------------------6-9-----| G|---------------6-8-9---------| D|-----------6-8---------------| A|-----6-7-8-------------------| E|-6-9-------------------------|
e|----------------------------9-11-| B|-----------------------9-11------| G|----------------8-9-10-----------| D|-----------8-11------------------| A|------8-11-----------------------| E|-9-11----------------------------|
e|-------------------------------11-12-13-| B|----------------------------11----------| G|----------------------10-13-------------| D|----------------11-13-------------------| A|----------11-13-------------------------| E|-11-12-13-------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------13-16-| B|----------------------------14-16-------| G|----------------------13-15-------------| D|-------------13-14-15-------------------| A|-------13-16----------------------------| E|-13-16----------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------16-18-| B|-------------------------16-17-18-------| G|-------------------15-18----------------| D|-------------15-18----------------------| A|-------16-18----------------------------| E|-16-18----------------------------------|
How to play Bb Blues on guitar
Find the root first: Bb is at fret 6 on the low E string and fret 1 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every Bb on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (♭3, 5, ♭7), 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 6–9. 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 | Bb |
| ♭3 | Db |
| 4 | Eb |
| ♭5 (Blue Note) | Fb |
| 5 | F |
| ♭7 | Ab |
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Questions
- What notes are in the Bb Blues Scale?
- The Bb Blues Scale has 6 notes: Bb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Ab.
- What is the formula of the blues scale?
- 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7, which is the step pattern W+H W H H W+H W (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play Bb Blues on the guitar?
- The root Bb is at fret 6 on the low E string and fret 1 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 6–9, and four more positions connect it up the neck.