D 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 D blues

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

D
1
F
♭3
G
4
Ab
♭5
A
5
C
♭7
35791215♭3, E string fret 1♭34, E string fret 34♭5, E string fret 4♭55, E string fret 55♭7, E string fret 8♭71, E string fret 101♭3, E string fret 13♭34, E string fret 1545, A string fret 05♭7, A string fret 3♭71, A string fret 51♭3, A string fret 8♭34, A string fret 104♭5, A string fret 11♭55, A string fret 125♭7, A string fret 15♭71, D string fret 01♭3, D string fret 3♭34, D string fret 54♭5, D string fret 6♭55, D string fret 75♭7, D string fret 10♭71, D string fret 121♭3, D string fret 15♭34, G string fret 04♭5, G string fret 1♭55, G string fret 25♭7, G string fret 5♭71, G string fret 71♭3, G string fret 10♭34, G string fret 124♭5, G string fret 13♭55, G string fret 145♭7, B string fret 1♭71, B string fret 31♭3, B string fret 6♭34, B string fret 84♭5, B string fret 9♭55, B string fret 105♭7, B string fret 13♭71, B string fret 151♭3, e string fret 1♭34, e string fret 34♭5, e string fret 4♭55, e string fret 55♭7, e string fret 8♭71, e string fret 101♭3, e string fret 13♭34, e string fret 154
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 D 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 D blues over

The chords on D whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over Dm7 there is nothing in D blues that can sound wrong.

Dm7Dm7b5D7sus4DmDdimDsus4D5

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