Blue Note
Pentatonic Scale Versus Blues Scale – What’s The Difference?
It’s the backbone of most licks and blues solos, the blues scale. In this article I want to share with you how the blues scale is built, how it’s similar yet different to the regular pentatonic scale and also how to best incorporate this into your playing.
Bas ic Pentatonic
The basic pentatonic scale is 5 notes. Some of those notes are played more then one time going up and down the scale. Here is the A major pentatonic scale in tab (this is just one of the five shapes on the neck).
e———————–5-8-5——————————
B——————-5-8——-8-5————————–
G————–5-7—————–7-5———————
D———-5-7————————-7-5—————–
A——5-7———————————7-5————-
E–5-8——————————————8-5——–
This is the scale being played up and down.
The Blues Note
There is only a 2 note different between the A blues scale and the A major pentatonic, these two notes are known as the blue notes. Here is the above A major pentatonic scale but with the blue notes added in.
e———————–5-8-5——————————
B——————-5-8——-8-5————————–
G————–5-7-8—————8-7-5—————–
D———-5-7————————–7-5—————-
A——5-6-7——————————–7-6-5———
E—5-8——————————————8-5——–
The notes added are the 6th fret on the A string and the 8th fret on the G string. The blue notes are the flat 3rd and flat 7th (sometimes called the diminished rather then flat).
When you play through the scale up and down again you’ll hear those notes stick out. They do have a nice bluesy feel to them. This would be called the a major blues scale.
Where and When to Use the Scale
Playing the scales up and down, up and down is good practice for your finger movements and speed but using this knowledge in every day jamming means creating and learning blues guitar licks. Licks are what you play and use to build a solid lead part in a blues song.
The quickest way to use these scales is to play with some backing tracks in different keys. I find that when I play scales along with backing tracks in a particular key I am much faster to learn new licks, make up my own and experiment.
To learn some more advanced concepts about the blues scale and in other keys you may want to check out some more advanced blues guitar lessons. With more knowledge comes more versatility in your playing.
Options to consider are private blues lessons, blues guitar lesson dvd or even online video lessons available at some general lessons websites.
blue note – herbie hancock – cantaloop island
