BLUES SCALES

The 'Blues Scale' is an important part of the sound of the blues, jazz and rock music. It is a great scale to learn if you are interested in improvising or composing modern music, and is the basis of most blues songs.

The blues scale is a hexatonic scale (meaning it is made up of 6 notes).

These notes of the blues scale are: the Tonic (1), the minor third (b3) the fourth (4) the flattened fifth (b5), the fifth (5)  and the flattened seventh (b7). 

We can therefore spell out the blues scale in the following way: 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7

Confused? It may help to learn how musicians and music theorists use the major scale as a reference point to identify and discuss the intervals between notes. Let's compare the C major scale and the C blues scale to help it make sense.

HERE'S THE C MAJOR SCALE, ON A PIANO. 

The notes are labelled 1 to 7 in ascending order. If we were playing this scale from the lowest note (C) to the highest (also C, an octave higher), then C would be the first note (1), D would be the second note (2), E would be the third note (3) and so on, until we get back to C (1) and the whole thing would start again.

NOW LET'S LOOK AT THE BLUES SCALE ON THE PIANO:

play the C blues scale on the piano!

If you find this exercise easy, try playing the blues scale in another key. You can use your interval knowledge, your ear or the chart below to help you.