Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
F# Major Blues Scale
Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.
Tap any note to hear it.
F# 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|-------------------2-4-5-| B|---------------2-4-------| G|-----------2-3-----------| D|---------4---------------| A|-------4-----------------| E|-2-4-5-------------------|
e|-----------------------4-5-6-| B|-------------------4-7-------| G|-----------------6-----------| D|-----------4-6-7-------------| A|-------4-6-------------------| E|-4-5-6-----------------------|
e|-----------------------6-9-| B|-------------------7-9-----| G|---------------6-8---------| D|---------6-7-8-------------| A|-----6-9-------------------| E|-6-9-----------------------|
e|----------------------------9-11-| B|--------------------9-10-11------| G|-----------------11--------------| D|--------------11-----------------| A|------9-11-12--------------------| E|-9-11----------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------11-14-| B|-------------------------------11-14-------| G|----------------------11-13-14-------------| D|----------------11-13----------------------| A|-------11-12-13----------------------------| E|-11-14-------------------------------------|
How to play F# Major Blues on guitar
Find the root first: F# is at fret 2 on the low E string and fret 9 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), 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 2–5. 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# |
| 2 | G# |
| ♭3 | A |
| 3 | A# |
| 5 | C# |
| 6 | D# |
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Practise F# Major 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 F# Major Blues Scale?
- The F# Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: F#, G#, A, A#, C#, D#.
- 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 F# Major Blues on the guitar?
- The root F# is at fret 2 on the low E string and fret 9 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 2–5, and four more positions connect it up the neck.