STRINGSCALES

A♭ composite blues Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Db, Ebb, Eb at frets 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

A string: Bb, Cb, C, Db, Ebb, Eb, F, Gb, Ab at frets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11

D string: Ebb, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Db, Ebb at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

G string: Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Db, Ebb, Eb, F, Gb at frets 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11

B string: Cb, C, Db, Ebb, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

High E string: F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Db, Ebb, Eb at frets 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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Ab composite blues

The composite blues scale merges the major and minor blues scales into one nine note super set: root, 2nd, both 3rds, 4th, flat 5th, 5th, 6th, flat 7th. It is less a scale to run than a map of every blues inflection available in one key: major sweetness, minor grit and the blue note all coexist. Blues and jazz players effectively think in it already.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

A♭

I

B♭

II

C♭

bIII

C

III

D♭

IV

E𝄫

bV

E♭

V

F

VI

G♭

bVII

composite blues in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Do not run all nine notes: treat Ab composite blues as a map and pick the major-blues subset over I and IV, minor-blues subset over V.
  • Practice switching mid-phrase: answer a line built on II, bIII (B), III, VI with one built on IV, bV (D), V, bVII (Gb).
  • The double chromatic runs (II-bIII-III and IV-bV-V) are built-in slurs: hammer through them landing on the chord tone.
  • Over a shuffle in Ab, keep strong beats for triad tones and spend all that chromatic wealth on the upbeats.

How to play A♭ composite blues on guitar

Fret 1 on the G string is your first root, so even this seven-flat key has a home right beside the nut. Open D carries the flat fifth and open B the minor third, which means what little rings open here rings on defining tones. With the capo on 1, G fingerings cover everything. Both E strings answer at fret 4 alongside the E-shape barre, and the first shape spends itself by fret 8.

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