Guitar scale · minor blues scale
F Blues Scale
Minor pentatonic with the added ♭5 (Blue Note) for characteristic emotional grit.
Tap any note to hear it.
F 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|-------------------------1-4-| B|---------------------1-4-----| G|---------------1-3-4---------| D|-----------1-3---------------| A|-----1-2-3-------------------| E|-1-4-------------------------|
e|-----------------------4-6-| B|-------------------4-6-----| G|-------------3-4-5---------| D|---------3-6---------------| A|-----3-6-------------------| E|-4-6-----------------------|
e|---------------------6-7-8-| B|-------------------6-------| G|---------------5-8---------| D|-----------6-8-------------| A|-------6-8-----------------| E|-6-7-8---------------------|
e|----------------------------8-11-| B|-----------------------9-11------| G|------------------8-10-----------| D|-----------8-9-10----------------| A|------8-11-----------------------| E|-8-11----------------------------|
e|----------------------------------11-13-| B|-------------------------11-12-13-------| G|-------------------10-13----------------| D|-------------10-13----------------------| A|-------11-13----------------------------| E|-11-13----------------------------------|
How to play F Blues on guitar
Find the root first: F is at fret 1 on the low E string and fret 8 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every F 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 1–4. 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 | F |
| ♭3 | Ab |
| 4 | Bb |
| ♭5 (Blue Note) | Cb |
| 5 | C |
| ♭7 | Eb |
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Practise F Blues anywhere, even offline.
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Questions
- What notes are in the F Blues Scale?
- The F Blues Scale has 6 notes: F, Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Eb.
- 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 F Blues on the guitar?
- The root F is at fret 1 on the low E string and fret 8 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 1–4, and four more positions connect it up the neck.