What is the difference between a blues scale and a normal scale?

The blues scale is a 6 note scale that comes from the minor pentatonic scale. The reason the blues scale is different from other scales is that the note that's added to the minor pentatonic scale to create the blues scale does not naturally occur in the key it's being played in.

leadguitarlessons.com - The Blues Scale - Lead Guitar Lessons

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The blues scale is a slightly different scale from the other 4 essential guitar scales. The blues scale is a 6 note scale that comes from the minor pentatonic scale.The reason the blues scale is different from other scales is that the note that’s added to the minor pentatonic scale to create the blues scale does not naturally occur in the key it’s being played in. This means that you’ll want to use it sparingly and tastefully in your lead guitar playing.

The Blue Note (Flat 5th)

The “Blue Note” is the only difference between a minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. The blue note is also known as a flat 5th. To find the flat 5th, we have to start with our standard minor scale. In this case, we’ll be looking at an A minor scale. Locate the 5th scale degree of the A minor scale. The 5th scale degree of an A minor scale is an E. We take that note and lower it by a half-step, making it our flat 5th.

How The Blues Scale Is Made

To make a blues scale, we start with a minor pentatonic scale. We’re going to be making an A minor blues scale, so we’ll start with the notes from an A minor pentatonic scale. Then we’ll add the blue note that we found from the A minor scale. Adding that note turns our A minor pentatonic scale into an A minor blues scale.

The A Minor Pentatonic & A Minor Blues Scales

You can see here what adding the blue note to the minor pentatonic shape looks like. Listen to the differences between the two scale shapes. An important thing to note is that the blue note doesn’t naturally occur in the key the scale is in. So you’ll want to use that note tastefully when improvising or writing licks. It sounds great in Blues, Rock, and Jazz music.

A Minor Blues Scale Horizontal View

Here’s another view of the A minor blues scale.

Using The Blues Scale Shape In Other Keys

Just like the other 4 scale shapes we looked at, you can move this entire shape to other keys. Just move the shape so that the root notes line up with the root note of the key you want to play in. If you wanted to play a C minor blues scale, you would move the entire shape up 3 frets. Are you looking for more lead guitar lessons and relevant jam-tracks? Guitareo is Nate Savage’s step-by-step video training system. It has some great songs for lead guitar and it also covers many other important styles of music including rock, country, fingerstyle, metal, classical, bluegrass, jazz, and more. Best of all it includes a huge library of original jam-tracks so you can apply everything to music.

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What scale is gravity in?

G Major pentatonic Scales: G Major pentatonic.

yourguitaracademy.com - How To Play Gravity by John Mayer - Your Guitar Academy

Scales: G Major pentatonic

The intro solo is all based around the G major pentatonic scale in shape 4. Make sure that as you play through the lick you can relate it to the shape pictured below. This content is unavailable on mobile devices, please view through a desktop or laptop browser for the optimum experience.

G Major Pentatonic Shape 4

Chords: The verse & Chorus

The main progression in the verse is G major to C major. You can play these anywhere you want on the neck, but that Thomas plays them is as follows. These are really cool ways to play these chords and simply based on CAGED chord positions, as Thomas explains in the video. We also have some super cool chorus chords, which are shown below (After the G and C).

Rhythm: Hendrix style licks!

The main thing to remember when you learn the licks within the chords is that they are all based around the pentatonic shapes within the chord. This is a very cool idea and one that Hendrix mastered back in the 60's. To give you a better idea of the theory behind them, here are the chords coupled with the pentatonic shapes. If you love this style but don't fully understand it, try this course: Hendrix Style Guitar Course. This content is unavailable on mobile devices, please view through a desktop or laptop browser for the optimum experience.

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