STRINGSCALES

A minor blues Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, G, A, C, D, Eb, E at frets 0, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12

A string: A, C, D, Eb, E, G, A at frets 0, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12

D string: D, Eb, E, G, A, C, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 12

G string: G, A, C, D, Eb, E, G at frets 0, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12

B string: C, D, Eb, E, G, A at frets 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10

High E string: E, G, A, C, D, Eb, E at frets 0, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12

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A minor blues

The minor blues scale is the minor pentatonic with a flat 5th wedged between the 4th and 5th. That blue note is pure tension: pass through it, bend it, or lean on it before resolving to the 5th or root. It is the default vocabulary of electric blues and hard rock, equally at home over a slow minor jam and a fast shuffle in the same key.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

A

I

C

bIII

D

IV

E♭

bV

E

V

G

bVII

Characteristic note: Eb (b5), the blue note squeezed between the fourth and the fifth.

Same notes, different mode

A minor blues uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

C major blues

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

tip
  • Treat the flat 5th (Eb) as a passing tone between the 4th (D) and 5th (E): slide through it, or bend the 4th a half step to reach it.
  • Over a slow blues in A, end phrases on the root or flat 3rd (C) and let the bV (Eb) appear only mid-line for tension.
  • The scale works over every chord of a 12-bar in A; the art is emphasizing each chord's own tones as it passes.
  • Combine boxes: play box 1 of A minor blues low, then the same scale three frets up in the relative-major shape for a brighter answer phrase.

How to play A minor blues on guitar

Open A gives the root and both E strings the perfect fifth, so drones come free on three strings. A is one of the two keys players typically learn this scale in first, the other being E. Box 1 anchors at fret 5, hands the position over at fret 9, and mirrors C major blues 3 semitones up, which means fifth-fret work transfers straight to that key. Fret 7 on the D string adds another root.

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