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Minor Blues Scale On The Guitar

The minor blues scale is arguably the most used scale by guitarists for soloing and improvising. The ‘blue’ note is what gives the scale its characteristic sound. Although it is an obvious go-to scale for the blues, it is used extensively in rock, jazz, folk, pop, and just about every other style too. The amazing thing about the minor blues scale, is that it works in a range of musical contexts. It can be used effectively over both minor chords and major chords.

So what makes up the minor blues scale? The scale is almost identical to the minor pentatonic scale, but has one extra note – the b5. This note is also known as the ‘blue note’, because it is what gives the scale its blues sound. If you are familiar with minor pentatonic scales, you would know that the C minor pentatonic scale (for example) contains the following:

C – Eb – F – G – Bb

To make this a C minor blues scale, we simply need to add the b5 (blue note)

C – Eb – F – Gb – G – Bb

1 – b3 – 4 – b5 – 5 – b7

The scale produces 3 notes in a row that are 1 semitone apart. Because of this, using bends is a very effective tool with the blues scale. If we take the example of the C minor blues scale above, the 3rd note of the scale (F), is followed by a semitone interval to Gb and then another semitone interval to G. This means that when we bend F, we are increasing the pitch upwards, towards the next note – Gb. If we continue bending the note past Gb, we are increasing the pitch towards the next note after Gb – G. This is one of the reasons why blues guitarists use bends extensively. The bends can be used to move from one note of the scale to the next and the ‘in between’ sounds of the bends add to the bluesy sound. This does not mean that bends can only be used to connect notes that are a semitone apart, or that they can only be used for blues scales, but the minor blues scale definitely lends itself to the use of bends.

Of course, as with any scale, we want to learn the 5 movable positions along the guitar fretboard and then apply them to different keys. Let’s look at the minor blues scale in the key of C, in all 5 positions.

If you are new to scales, I would recommend reading the following related posts:

Pentatonic Scales – What are they?

C Minor Pentatonic Scales On The Guitar

Minor 7 Flat 5 Arpeggios On The Guitar

The Minor 7 b5 arpeggio contains the following:

1 – b3 – b5 – b7

The minor 7 b5 arpeggio and chord can also be referred to as the half diminished arpeggio or chord. It has a dissonant, dark sound and can be used effectively with certain minor scales, such as the phrygian mode and locrian mode.

As with all scales and arpeggios, we want to learn 5 movable shapes up and down the fretboard for the minor 7b5 arpeggio. Let’s look at the 5 shapes, using Cm7b5 as the example arpeggio:

Links to individual keys will be posted here soon. For now, practice the 5 shapes along the fretboard.

Dominant 7 Arpeggios On The Guitar

The dominant 7 arpeggio contains the following:

1 – 3 – 5 – b7

It is the ‘flat 7th’ that gives the dominant 7 arpeggio its distinctive sound. It is a great tool when used over dominant 7 chords and when used with scales such as the mixolydian mode.

Just like any arpeggio or scale that we learn, we want to be able to play the dominant 7 arpeggio in 5 movable positions up and down the guitar fretboard. Let’s look at the 5 dominant 7 shapes using C dominant 7 as the example key:

Links to individual keys will be posted here soon. For now, practice the 5 different shapes of the dominant 7 arpeggio up and down the neck.

Minor 7 Arpeggios On The Guitar

The minor 7 arpeggio contains the following:

1 – b3 – 5 – b7

It can be thought of as a minor arpeggio, with an added b7. It is a very important tool for any guitarist because it can be used very effectively with a range of minor scales, such as the dorian scale, aeolian scale and minor pentatonic scale.

As with any arpeggio or scale, we want to master 5 movable shapes. Let’s look at the 5 movable minor 7 arpeggio shapes, using Cmin7 as the example arpeggio:

Links to individual keys will be posted here soon. For now, have a go at memorizing the shapes and changing keys.

Major 7 Arpeggios On The Guitar

The Major 7 arpeggio is an important arpeggio on the guitar. It contains the 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 of the Major scale.

It can also be thought of as the Major triad arpeggio with an added 7.

As with an arpeggio or scale, we want to master 5 movable shapes along the fretboard. Let’s look at the 5 movable shapes of the Major 7 arpeggio, using Cmaj7 as the example key:

The major 7 arpeggio is a great musical tool when used with scales such as the major scale and lydian scale.

Links to individual keys will be listed here soon. For now, practice the major arpeggio in the positions demonstrated and try moving them around.

Diminished Arpeggios On The Guitar

The diminished arpeggio similar to a minor arpeggio, but with a ‘flat 5′. The diminished arpeggio and chord contains the following:

1 – b3 – b5

There is a minor 3rd interval between the root and the b3, and the b3 and the b5.

As with all arpeggios and scales, we want to be able to play 5 movable shapes across the fretboard. Let’s look at the 5 movable shapes of the diminished arpeggio, using the C Diminished arpeggio as an example:

Links to individual keys will be posted here soon. For now, have a go at memorizing the shapes and changing keys.

Augmented Arpeggios On The Guitar

The augmented arpeggio is one of four triads (major, minor, augmented, diminished).

The augmented arpeggio contains the following:

1 – 3 – #5

It is the ‘sharp 5th’ that gives the augmented arpeggio its distinctively dissonant sound.

A unique characteristic about the augmented chord is that it is what is known as a symmetrical chord. This means that the intervals between each note are evenly spaced out. There is a major 3rd separating each note, including the #5 and the root. The result is that any two augmented chords that share one note, share all notes. This might sound a bit confusing, but let’s demonstrate with some examples.

The C augmented chord contains:

C – E – G#

The E augmented chord contains:

E – G# – C

The G# augmented chord contains:

G# – C – E

As you can see, these three ‘separate’ chords contain identical notes. Note that I am referring to chords, but of course an arpeggio is effectively a broken up chord, so the same theory applies to arpeggios.

Just like any arpeggio or scale, we want to master 5 movable shapes so that we can play in every key and every position. Let’s look at the 5 movable shapes for the augmented arpeggio, using C augmented as our example:

Links to individual keys will be posted here soon. For now, have a go at memorizing the shapes and changing keys.

Minor Arpeggios On The Guitar

Minor arpeggios are an important part of every guitarists arsenal. If you could only ever master two arpeggios, you would most likely master major arpeggios and minor arpeggios.

If you’re not sure what arpeggios are and why they are important, read the following post, why are arpeggios important?

The minor arpeggio contains the root note, flat 3rd and 5th:

1 – b3 – 5

Just like any scale or arpeggio, we want to be able to play the minor arpeggio in five movable positions and then master the individual keys.

As an example, let’s look at the 5 positions along the fretboard for the C minor arpeggio.

We are using the key of C as an example, but these shapes can be moved to produce minor arpeggios in different keys.