The Blues Scale
One of the most commonly used scales in Rock is the Blues Scale, which is demonstrated in the following example. The fingering given here is only one way of playing the scale. Be prepared for variations in fingering depending on the musical context.
It is worth comparing the notes of the Blues scale with those of the major scale. Here are the notes of both scales.
C Major Scale
C Blues Scale
Notice that the Blues scale contains both the b5 and the natural 5. It does not contain the degrees 2 or 6. Altogether the Blues scale contains six different notes, whereas the major scale contains seven different notes. The major scale used by itself does not sound very bluesy. However, in Blues, melodies often contain notes from both of these scales. Listen to example 36 to hear the difference between them.
