STRINGSCALES

B♭ composite blues Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, D, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

A string: Bb, C, Db, D, Eb, Fb, F, G, Ab at frets 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11

D string: D, Eb, Fb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, D at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12

G string: G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, D, Eb, Fb, F, G at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12

B string: C, Db, D, Eb, Fb, F, G, Ab, Bb at frets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11

High E string: Fb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, D, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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Bb 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:

B♭

I

C

II

D♭

bIII

D

III

E♭

IV

F♭

bV

F

V

G

VI

A♭

bVII

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

tip
  • Do not run all nine notes: treat Bb 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 (Db), III, VI with one built on IV, bV (E), V, bVII (Ab).
  • 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 Bb, keep strong beats for triad tones and spend all that chromatic wealth on the upbeats.

How to play B♭ composite blues on guitar

Both open E strings land on the flat fifth, so that scale tone is available at the top and bottom of every strum. Open D adds the third, open G the sixth. A-shape barre parks at fret 1, about as low as a barre gets, which means the easiest full voicing sits at the very bottom of the neck. Roots continue at fret 3 on the G string and fret 6 on both E strings, and box one carries through fret 10.

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