Minor blues scale in A
Minor blues scale in A: A, C, D, Eb, E and G, the degrees 1–b3–4–b5–5–b7. Minor pentatonic plus the b5 blue note: the crying, attitude-filled sound of blues and rock.
Take the minor pentatonic — that is, the lean five-note vocabulary that runs through blues and rock — and add the b5, the famous blue note: a deliberately 'bent' pitch squeezed between the 4th and the 5th, creating that crying friction. The result sounds dramatic and full of attitude, made for phrases that slide and notes that stretch upward. It's the first choice for soloing over a blues, and expression — how you play each note — matters as much as the note collection itself.
Example: A – C – D – Eb – E – GFormula: 1 – b3 – 4 – b5 – 5 – b7In 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
In the diagrams, each dot carries its scale degree — 1 is the tonic, highlighted.