A Blues Scale on Guitar
Diagram, notes, and audio for the A Blues scale on guitar. Free in your browser.
About A Blues on guitar
The A Blues on guitar is one of the most rewarding scales to learn early. The scale's character is gritty, expressive, and unmistakably American, which is why it shows up in so many genres. Spell the scale and you get A, C, D, D#, E, G — memorise that order before you worry about positions.
Guitarists overlay this blues fingering on top of the minor pentatonic; the blue note is the fret that sits one half-step below the fifth. What makes it sound like itself is the gap pattern between notes; transposing to A keeps that pattern intact. If you are tuning by ear, our tuner for guitar is one click away — the scale only sounds right with accurate intonation.
Frequently asked questions
- What notes are in the A Blues scale?
- The A Blues scale contains the notes A, C, D, D#, E, G. That is 6 pitch classes, played in that order from the root upward.
- What does Blues mean in music theory?
- Blues is a six-note scale that adds a chromatic "blue note" to the minor pentatonic. The interval pattern is the same in every key — choosing A as the root just shifts every pitch up or down without changing the scale's character.
- How do I practise A Blues on guitar?
- Start with the diagram on this page, play the notes slowly ascending and descending, then add a metronome at a comfortable tempo. Once the fingering is automatic, try improvising short phrases that always land back on A.
Switch instruments
See A Blues on a different instrument — same notes, new diagram.