The Blues Scale
One extra note turns the minor pentatonic into the blues scale — adding a gritty, tension-filled color that defines blues, rock, and jazz soloing.
What is the blues scale?
The blues scale starts from the minor pentatonic scale and adds one more note: a flat 5th, sitting right between the 4th and 5th degrees. That extra note — the "blue note" — is what gives the blues scale its gritty, tension-and-release character.
The blues scale formula
That's 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7 — six notes in total. The ♭5 is dissonant against the underlying chord on its own, which is exactly the point: it creates tension that resolves nicely into the 4th or 5th around it.
C blues scale, spelled out
C, E♭, F, G♭, G, B♭, back to C. Try playing just C, E♭, F, G♭, G against a C7 chord — that ♭5-to-5 slide is the sound of a thousand blues guitar solos.
Common questions
What is the blues scale formula?
The minor pentatonic (1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7) plus an added flat 5th: 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7.
What notes are in the C blues scale?
C, E♭, F, G♭, G, B♭ — C minor pentatonic with an added G♭.
What is the "blue note"?
The added flat 5th between the 4th and 5th degrees. It's dissonant on its own, and that tension — especially bent or slid into — is a defining blues sound.
What genres use the blues scale?
Blues, rock, funk, jazz, and country all lean on it — it's one of the most common scales for improvising over dominant 7th chords.
Feel the blue note on your instrument
Melody Monkey visualizes the blues scale on a live guitar, bass, ukulele, or piano — in any key, instantly.
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