Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
Bb Major Blues Scale
Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.
Tap any note to hear it.
Bb 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|-------------------6-8-9-| B|---------------6-8-------| G|-----------6-7-----------| D|---------8---------------| A|-------8-----------------| E|-6-8-9-------------------|
e|-----------------------------8-9-10-| B|------------------------8-11--------| G|---------------------10-------------| D|-------------8-10-11----------------| A|--------8-10------------------------| E|-8-9-10-----------------------------|
e|----------------------------------10-13-| B|----------------------------11-13-------| G|----------------------10-12-------------| D|-------------10-11-12-------------------| A|-------10-13----------------------------| E|-10-13----------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------13-15-| B|----------------------13-14-15-------| G|-------------------15----------------| D|----------------15-------------------| A|-------13-15-16----------------------| E|-13-15-------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------15-18-| B|-------------------------------15-18-------| G|----------------------15-17-18-------------| D|----------------15-17----------------------| A|-------15-16-17----------------------------| E|-15-18-------------------------------------|
How to play Bb Major 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), 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 |
| 2 | C |
| ♭3 | Db |
| 3 | D |
| 5 | F |
| 6 | G |
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Questions
- What notes are in the Bb Major Blues Scale?
- The Bb Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: Bb, C, Db, D, F, G.
- 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 Bb Major 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.