C blues scale

6 notes · the ♭5 passing note

The minor pentatonic with one note added between the 4th and the 5th. It is a passing tone rather than a chord tone -- it belongs to the move through it, not to any chord in the key, which is why it sounds wrong held and right in flight.

Heard in: Every blues ever played, and most rock solos.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantlydian augmentedalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of C blues

The whole scale, with each note’s degree underneath it.

C
1
Eb
♭3
F
4
Gb
♭5
G
5
Bb
♭7
357912154, E string fret 14♭5, E string fret 2♭55, E string fret 35♭7, E string fret 6♭71, E string fret 81♭3, E string fret 11♭34, E string fret 134♭5, E string fret 14♭55, E string fret 155♭7, A string fret 1♭71, A string fret 31♭3, A string fret 6♭34, A string fret 84♭5, A string fret 9♭55, A string fret 105♭7, A string fret 13♭71, A string fret 151♭3, D string fret 1♭34, D string fret 34♭5, D string fret 4♭55, D string fret 55♭7, D string fret 8♭71, D string fret 101♭3, D string fret 13♭34, D string fret 1545, G string fret 05♭7, G string fret 3♭71, G string fret 51♭3, G string fret 8♭34, G string fret 104♭5, G string fret 11♭55, G string fret 125♭7, G string fret 15♭71, B string fret 11♭3, B string fret 4♭34, B string fret 64♭5, B string fret 7♭55, B string fret 85♭7, B string fret 11♭71, B string fret 1314, e string fret 14♭5, e string fret 2♭55, e string fret 35♭7, e string fret 6♭71, e string fret 81♭3, e string fret 11♭34, e string fret 134♭5, e string fret 14♭55, e string fret 155
15 frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

Chords from C blues

Stacking thirds through this scale does not give chords: the gaps in it are not thirds. It is a scale to play over chords rather than one to build them from, so what matters here is which chords it fits, below.

What to play C blues over

The chords on C whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over Cm7 there is nothing in C blues that can sound wrong.

Cm7Cm7b5C7sus4CmCdimCsus4C5

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode