Guitar scale · minor blues scale
D Blues Scale
Minor pentatonic with the added ♭5 (Blue Note) for characteristic emotional grit.
Tap any note to hear it.
D 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|-------------------------------------10-13-| B|-------------------------------10-13-------| G|----------------------10-12-13-------------| D|----------------10-12----------------------| A|-------10-11-12----------------------------| E|-10-13-------------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------13-15-| B|----------------------------13-15-------| G|-------------------12-13-14-------------| D|-------------12-15----------------------| A|-------12-15----------------------------| E|-13-15----------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------15-16-17-| B|----------------------------15----------| G|----------------------14-17-------------| D|----------------15-17-------------------| A|----------15-17-------------------------| E|-15-16-17-------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------17-20-| B|----------------------------18-20-------| G|----------------------17-19-------------| D|-------------17-18-19-------------------| A|-------17-20----------------------------| E|-17-20----------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------20-22-| B|-------------------------20-21-22-------| G|-------------------19-22----------------| D|-------------19-22----------------------| A|-------20-22----------------------------| E|-20-22----------------------------------|
How to play D Blues on guitar
Find the root first: D is at fret 10 on the low E string and fret 5 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every D 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 10–13. 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 | D |
| ♭3 | F |
| 4 | G |
| ♭5 (Blue Note) | Ab |
| 5 | A |
| ♭7 | C |
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Practise D 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 D Blues Scale?
- The D Blues Scale has 6 notes: D, F, G, Ab, A, C.
- 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 D Blues on the guitar?
- The root D is at fret 10 on the low E string and fret 5 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 10–13, and four more positions connect it up the neck.