STRINGSCALES

D♭ composite blues Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, F, Gb, Abb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

A string: Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Abb, Ab at frets 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

D string: Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Abb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db at frets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11

G string: Abb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Abb at frets 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

B string: Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Abb, Ab, Bb, Cb at frets 0, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12

High E string: Fb, F, Gb, Abb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

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Db 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:

D♭

I

E♭

II

F♭

bIII

F

III

G♭

IV

A𝄫

bV

A♭

V

B♭

VI

C♭

bVII

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

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

How to play D♭ composite blues on guitar

Eight flats sit in this signature, so a capo at fret 1 reading the whole thing as C is the sane route. Open low E and high E sound the minor third while open B adds the flat seventh, which means a few open strings still work this deep into the flats. Fretted roots begin at fret 2, B string. Both E strings carry the root at fret 9, where the E-shape barre lives, and the box stretches to fret 13.

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