Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
C Major Blues Scale
Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.
Tap any note to hear it.
C 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|------------------------8-10-11-| B|-------------------8-10---------| G|---------------8-9--------------| D|------------10------------------| A|---------10---------------------| E|-8-10-11------------------------|
e|----------------------------------10-11-12-| B|----------------------------10-13----------| G|-------------------------12----------------| D|----------------10-12-13-------------------| A|----------10-12----------------------------| E|-10-11-12----------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------12-15-| B|----------------------------13-15-------| G|----------------------12-14-------------| D|-------------12-13-14-------------------| A|-------12-15----------------------------| E|-12-15----------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------15-17-| B|----------------------15-16-17-------| G|-------------------17----------------| D|----------------17-------------------| A|-------15-17-18----------------------| E|-15-17-------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------17-20-| B|-------------------------------17-20-------| G|----------------------17-19-20-------------| D|----------------17-19----------------------| A|-------17-18-19----------------------------| E|-17-20-------------------------------------|
How to play C Major Blues on guitar
Find the root first: C is at fret 8 on the low E string and fret 3 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every C 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 8–11. 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 | C |
| 2 | D |
| ♭3 | Eb |
| 3 | E |
| 5 | G |
| 6 | A |
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Practise C Major Blues anywhere, even offline.
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Questions
- What notes are in the C Major Blues Scale?
- The C Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: C, D, Eb, E, G, A.
- 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 C Major Blues on the guitar?
- The root C is at fret 8 on the low E string and fret 3 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 8–11, and four more positions connect it up the neck.