Piano scales · Blues
The blues scale
Six notes, one of them “wrong” on purpose: the blues scale is the minor pentatonic with a blue note added. Pick a key, hear it, then play along with a 12-bar blues shuffle where every key you press fits.
Jam: start the loop, then play the computer keys A S D F G H J K L: each one is the next note of the scale, so nothing you play is wrong. Or click the lit keys.Jam: start the loop and tap the lit keys. They’re all in the scale, so nothing you play is wrong.
The notes: 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7
In C, the blues scale is C E♭ F G♭ G B♭. In A, A C D E♭ E G; in E, E G A B♭ B D. It's the minor pentatonic with one note added: the ♭5, the blue note, lit in the tool above.
The steps are one and a half – whole – half – half – one and a half – whole. That run of half steps (4, ♭5, 5) is where the blues lives.
The blue note
The ♭5 isn't a note to sit on: it's a note to pass through. Slide from it up to the 5th, or play it and the 4th together for a moment, and you get the bend a guitarist or a singer makes. On the piano you can't bend a note, so pianists crush neighbouring notes together and slide off them instead: a quick ♭3 into the 3rd over a major chord is the classic blues lick.
Over a 12-bar blues
The loop in the tool is a 12-bar blues: four bars of the I chord, two of IV, two of I, then V, IV, I and V to turn around. One blues scale, on the key's root, fits over all twelve bars, even though the chords are major and the scale is minor. That clash is the blues.
The left-hand pattern is the boogie shuffle, root and fifth then root and sixth, on swung eighths. Learn it properly in the boogie-woogie piano guide, and hear the 12-bar chords in any key on the chord progressions page.
The blues scale in every key
| Scale | Notes |
|---|---|
| C blues scale | C – E♭ – F – G♭ – G – B♭ |
| C♯ blues scale | C♯ – E – F♯ – G – G♯ – B |
| D blues scale | D – F – G – A♭ – A – C |
| E♭ blues scale | E♭ – G♭ – A♭ – A – B♭ – D♭ |
| E blues scale | E – G – A – B♭ – B – D |
| F blues scale | F – A♭ – B♭ – B – C – E♭ |
| F♯ blues scale | F♯ – A – B – C – C♯ – E |
| G blues scale | G – B♭ – C – D♭ – D – F |
| G♯ blues scale | G♯ – B – C♯ – D – D♯ – F♯ |
| A blues scale | A – C – D – E♭ – E – G |
| B♭ blues scale | B♭ – D♭ – E♭ – E – F – A♭ |
| B blues scale | B – D – E – F – F♯ – A |
How to practise it
- Learn C, F and G first: they're the I, IV and V of a blues in C, and the keys most blues piano is played in.
- Start the jam and play just the top three notes, ♭5, 5 and ♭7, over and over. Then answer each phrase with the bottom three.
- Leave space. Blues is call and response: play a short phrase, then let the loop answer.
Playing the blues on a real piano? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a shuffle that straightens out. Then it shows you how it should go.
Keep learning
Questions people ask
What are the notes of the C blues scale?
C, E♭, F, G♭, G, B♭: the C minor pentatonic plus G♭, the blue note.
What are the notes of the A blues scale?
A, C, D, E♭, E, G.
What is the formula for the blues scale?
1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7: the minor pentatonic with the flattened 5th added between the 4th and 5th.
What is the blue note?
The ♭5, a half step below the 5th. It's a passing note: slide through it to the 5th, or crush it against the 4th, rather than resting on it.
Is there a major blues scale?
Yes: 1, 2, ♭3, 3, 5, 6 (in C: C, D, E♭, E, G, A). It's the major pentatonic with a ♭3 added, sweeter and more country or gospel. The scale people usually mean by “the blues scale” is the minor one here.
What chords go with the blues scale?
The 12-bar blues: the I, IV and V chords of the key, usually all dominant sevenths (in C, C7, F7 and G7). The same blues scale, on the key's root, works over all three.