Skip to content
Chord & Fret
Instrument
GuitarElectric guitarCavaquinhoUkulele

Major blues (C)

It's the major pentatonic — five bright, upbeat notes — with a passing minor 3rd, in other words a note that doesn't ask to stay: it just slides on its way to the major 3rd right next door. That meeting of minor and major 3rd is the heart of the blues language, giving the sound a smile with a melancholy wink. A useful twist: these are exactly the same notes as the minor blues scale, started from a different point — the same relationship a major key shares with its relative minor.

Example: C – D – Eb – E – G – AFormula: 1 – 2 – b3 – 3 – 5 – 6

In the formula, the numbers are degrees — positions counted in the reference major scale; "b" lowers a half step and "#" raises one.

Family: Blues scales.

The simultaneous or alternating minor and major third is fundamental to the language. Expression, bends and micro-tuning weigh as much as the collection of notes.

The same scale on all four instruments

Scale diagramHorizontal fretboard with 6 strings, frets 0–4.123435612b335612b335
Guitar
Scale diagramHorizontal fretboard with 6 strings, frets 0–4.123435612b335612b335
Electric guitar
Scale diagramHorizontal fretboard with 4 strings, frets 0–4.12342b335612b32b33
Cavaquinho
Scale diagramHorizontal fretboard with 4 strings, frets 0–5.1234556112b33356612
Ukulele

In the diagrams, each dot carries its scale degree — 1 is the tonic, highlighted.

One box per instrument is just the doorway into major blues. In Chord & Fret, you press play and watch each note light up on the diagram the instant it sounds; walk the scale's positions along the whole neck; and run it up, down or in a full round trip. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. 100% offline. Open in Chord & Fret →

See the full scales guide →