Blues Guitar Scales — Minor Pentatonic, Blues Scale & More

Blues guitar has one of the richest scale vocabularies in popular music. The same 12-bar progression can sound completely different depending on which scales you choose.

Essential Blues Guitar Scales

• Minor Pentatonic — 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7 — The starting point of almost every blues solo.
• Blues Scale — 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7 — Minor pentatonic + the ♭5 (blue note). The quintessential blues sound.
• Major Pentatonic — 1 2 3 5 6 — Brighter and sweeter. The BB King, Albert King sound.
• Mixolydian — 1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7 — Over dominant 7th chords. The full blues-rock palette.
• Dorian — 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7 — Minor blues with the raised 6th. Soulful and sophisticated.

The Blues Scale Over the 12-Bar

The genius of the blues scale is that it works over all three chords of the 12-bar blues (I7, IV7, V7) — even though it technically clashes with the chord tones. That tension IS the blues sound. BB King built a career on one blues scale position.

Explore All Modes & Scales — Free Interactive Tool

Dead Sea Scales™ is a free interactive guitar tool with all 7 diatonic modes, 42 total scales, audio playback, and printable reference posters. No login required.