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Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues

B Major Blues Scale

Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.

Notes BC#DD#F#G#
Formula 1 2 ♭3 3 5 6
Steps W H H W+H W W+H
Mood Swinging, Vibrant, Expressive
Heard in B.B. King style, Country Blues, Swing

Interactive scale diagram

B Major Blues Scale · Standard tuning

STR OP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 E A D G B E

Tap any note to hear it.

B 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.

Position 1 · E shape frets 7–10
e|--------------------7-9-10-|
B|----------------7-9--------|
G|------------7-8------------|
D|----------9----------------|
A|--------9------------------|
E|-7-9-10--------------------|
Position 2 · D shape frets 9–12
e|------------------------------9-10-11-|
B|-------------------------9-12---------|
G|----------------------11--------------|
D|--------------9-11-12-----------------|
A|---------9-11-------------------------|
E|-9-10-11------------------------------|
Position 3 · C shape frets 11–14
e|----------------------------------11-14-|
B|----------------------------12-14-------|
G|----------------------11-13-------------|
D|-------------11-12-13-------------------|
A|-------11-14----------------------------|
E|-11-14----------------------------------|
Position 4 · A shape frets 14–17
e|-------------------------------14-16-|
B|----------------------14-15-16-------|
G|-------------------16----------------|
D|----------------16-------------------|
A|-------14-16-17----------------------|
E|-14-16-------------------------------|
Position 5 · G shape frets 16–19
e|-------------------------------------16-19-|
B|-------------------------------16-19-------|
G|----------------------16-18-19-------------|
D|----------------16-18----------------------|
A|-------16-17-18----------------------------|
E|-16-19-------------------------------------|

How to play B Major Blues on guitar

Find the root first: B is at fret 7 on the low E string and fret 2 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every B 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 7–10. 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

DegreeNote
1 B
2 C#
♭3 D
3 D#
5 F#
6 G#

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Questions

What notes are in the B Major Blues Scale?
The B Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: B, C#, D, 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 B Major Blues on the guitar?
The root B is at fret 7 on the low E string and fret 2 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 7–10, and four more positions connect it up the neck.

Major Blues Scale in every key

More scales in B