Chord & FretMinor blues (A)
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.
What you see above is one box of minor blues per instrument; the full map lives in the app. In Chord & Fret, you drill it in Exercise mode — in thirds, pairs or sequences, with the BPM climbing every repetition; switch the dot labels between degrees, note names and fingers; and choose to start from the tonic or play the full box. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. 100% offline. Open in Chord & Fret →