Blues Guitar Scales!

Ok, so we talked about the pentatonic scale last time round, now be aware that there are actually 5 different shapes for that scale which we’ll go into later, but for now it’s just that one shape I want you to get your teeth into. There are so many blues guitar riffs that are based upon that one shape that if I had a dollar for every one I’d be the richest man on the planet. That’s why it’s so important for you to learn, because it’s used so much!

Moving on, you’ve probably heard of THE BLUES SCALE many times, this is actually the next step on from learning the pentatonic scale. The great thing about it is, it’s pretty much the same thing with just one note added! It doesn’t get any simpler than that. You’ll notice when you play this through that that one extra note really gives the scale a much more bluesy tone.

So here it is…

Notice that extra note appears twice, it’s not two separate notes it’s the same one occuring twice within the pattern. Again there’s been a million blues guitar riffs played with this pattern too, so make sure you get this one under your fingers before we go any further!

If you have any blues backing tracks to play with try practicing the two scale shapes we’ve learned so far over the top of it, you’ll get a much better idea of the sound of each scale that way.

See you next time

Tom