Blues Scale on Guitar: Use the Sound Over the Chord
By Daniel Weiss · Published · Updated
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with one added note, the b5, which sits between the 4 and the 5. In Daniel’s blues lick over E7 it is one step on the way down from the 5 to the 4.
Play this first. On the 4th string play frets 7, 8, 9: A, Bb, B (his tab, 0:40).
Listen for the middle note, Bb, the blue note.
Pick a chart
1. E (R, root), string 6, fret 0, bar 1; 2. G (b3, scale note), string 6, fret 3, bar 1; 3. A (4, scale note), string 6, fret 5, bar 1; 4. Bb (b5, the blue note), string 6, fret 6, bar 1; 5. B (5, scale note), string 6, fret 7, bar 1; 6. D (b7, scale note), string 5, fret 5, bar 1; 7. E (R, root), string 5, fret 7, bar 1; 8. G (b3, scale note), string 4, fret 5, bar 1; 9. A (4, scale note), string 4, fret 7, bar 2; 10. Bb (b5, the blue note), string 4, fret 8, bar 2; 11. B (5, scale note), string 4, fret 9, bar 2; 12. D (b7, scale note), string 3, fret 7, bar 2; 13. E (R, root), string 3, fret 9, bar 2; 14. G (b3, scale note), string 2, fret 8, bar 2; 15. A (4, scale note), string 2, fret 10, bar 2; 16. Bb (b5, the blue note), string 2, fret 11, bar 2; 17. B (5, scale note), string 2, fret 12, bar 3; 18. D (b7, scale note), string 1, fret 10, bar 3; 19. E (R, root), string 1, fret 12, bar 3
Computed guitar samples, not Daniel’s recording, and slower than he plays. His own playing is in the video.
B (5th), string 6, fret 7; D (b7), string 6, fret 10; E (root), string 5, fret 7; G (b3), string 5, fret 10; A (4th), string 4, fret 7; Bb (the blue note, b5), string 4, fret 8; B (5th), string 4, fret 9; D (b7), string 3, fret 7; E (root), string 3, fret 9; G (b3), string 2, fret 8; A (4th), string 2, fret 10; B (5th), string 1, fret 7; D (b7), string 1, fret 10
1. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 1, fret 12, bar 1; 2. D (b7, E7 chord tone), string 1, fret 10, bar 1; 3. B (5, E7 chord tone), string 2, fret 12, bar 1; 4. Bb (b5, the blue note, not in E7), string 2, fret 11, bar 1; 5. A (4, scale note, not in E7), string 2, fret 10, bar 1; 6. G (b3, scale note, not in E7), string 2, fret 8, bar 1; 7. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 3, fret 9, bar 2; 8. A (4, scale note, not in E7), string 2, fret 10, bar 2; 9. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 3, fret 9, bar 2; 10. G (b3, scale note, not in E7), string 2, fret 8, bar 2; 11. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 3, fret 9, bar 2; 12. D (b7, E7 chord tone), string 3, fret 7, bar 2
Computed guitar samples, not Daniel’s recording, and slower than he plays (0.3 s per eighth note, about 0.18 s for him). His own playing is under Hear Daniel.
1. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 3, fret 9, bar 1; 2. D (b7, E7 chord tone), string 3, fret 7, bar 1; 3. B (5, E7 chord tone), string 4, fret 9, bar 1; 4. Bb (b5, the blue note, not in E7), string 4, fret 8, bar 1; 5. A (4, scale note, not in E7), string 4, fret 7, bar 1; 6. G (b3, scale note, not in E7), string 4, fret 5, bar 1; 7. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 5, fret 7, bar 2; 8. A (4, scale note, not in E7), string 4, fret 7, bar 2; 9. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 5, fret 7, bar 2; 10. G (b3, scale note, not in E7), string 4, fret 5, bar 2; 11. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 5, fret 7, bar 2; 12. D (b7, E7 chord tone), string 5, fret 5, bar 2
Computed guitar samples, not Daniel’s recording, and slower than he plays (0.3 s per eighth note, about 0.18 s for him). His own playing is under Hear Daniel.
1. E (R, E7 chord tone), string 5, fret 7, bar 1; 2. D (b7, E7 chord tone), string 5, fret 5, bar 1; 3. B (5, E7 chord tone), string 6, fret 7, bar 1; 4. Bb (b5, the blue note, not in E7), string 6, fret 6, bar 1; 5. A (4, scale note, not in E7), string 6, fret 5, bar 1; 6. G (b3, scale note, not in E7), string 6, fret 3, bar 1
Computed guitar samples, not Daniel’s recording, and slower than he plays (0.3 s per eighth note, about 0.18 s for him). His own playing is under Hear Daniel.
Watch Daniel play the lick
What the blues scale is
Take the minor pentatonic and add one chromatic note, the b5, right after the 4. In E that is Bb, between A and B.
| Scale | Formula | Notes in E |
|---|---|---|
| E minor pentatonic | R b3 4 5 b7 | E G A B D |
| E blues scale | R b3 4 b5 5 b7 | E G A Bb B D |
“Basically adding a chromatic right after the fourth degree.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube short Blues Scale - MUST KNOW Scale for all Guitarists! (auto-captions), 0:05
He spells the E blues scale the same way in the lesson, and labels it “E minor blues scale” on screen: R, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7.
His tab plays the shape from the open 6th string, then moves it up an octave, and again. The 6th, 4th and 2nd strings each carry four notes, the b3, 4, b5 and 5, at frets 3 5 6 7, 5 7 8 9 and 8 10 11 12; the lick runs down that string in every octave.
His reason for the lesson: “I’m going to show you the blues scale across the neck ... something very practical, also good for technique, nice warm-up.” (0:07)
The blue note
Daniel names the b5 two ways. It is the tritone, and later in the same lesson he lists it as the “blue note.”
“So this is the root. This is the flat five, also called the tritone.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson Do This & Get WILD Pentatonic Blues Jazz on Guitar, 1:08
Bb is six half steps above E (computed). On the 4th string it is fret 8, between A at fret 7 and B at fret 9.
In the lick he plays it as one step: from the 5 to the b5, the 4 and the b3, then into the root (2:17).
Start from the pentatonic you know
The lick lives in the E minor pentatonic box at frets 7 to 10, the Box chart. Nine of its twelve notes are in the box, E and B at fret 12 sit just above it, and the twelfth is the blue note (computed).
Daniel’s instruction is to find the added note in every position: “Make sure you can add notes when you add a chromatic note, see it in all five positions.” (auto-captions, 0:46)
His tab above has the b5 across the whole neck. The five pentatonic positions are on the pentatonic scale page, in A: it does not mark the b5 (in A it is Eb), so add it to each position yourself.
The sound over E7
Daniel’s words for the E blues scale: “Which of course can be associated with a nice dominant E7.” (0:39 to 0:51)
His tab writes E7 over its closing chord, in the low octave.
E7 is E, G#, B and D (computed). Here is the open voicing his tab shows.
E (root), string 6, fret 0; B (5th), string 5, fret 2; D (b7), string 4, fret 0; G# (major 3rd), string 3, fret 1; D (b7), string 2, fret 3; E (root), string 1, fret 0
| Note | Degree | Against E7 |
|---|---|---|
| E | R | Chord tone |
| D | b7 | Chord tone |
| B | 5 | Chord tone |
| G | b3 | Not in E7: a half step below its G#, the 3rd. In E7#9 it is the #9 |
| A | 4 | Not in E7 |
| Bb | b5 | Not in E7: a tritone from E |
The scale’s G and the chord’s G# are a half step apart: a minor 3rd against a major 3rd (computed).
At about 0:22 his video also shows E7#9 on screen (1, 3, 7 and #9). Over that chord the G is the #9, so both thirds sound together (computed).
Press Play with E7 in a lick chart to hear the lick over the chord (computed guitar samples, not Daniel’s recording). The chord side is on the dominant chords page.
How the lick is built
It is twelve notes, written in 6/8 as two bars of six eighth notes. Daniel counts them 1 to 12, over and over (3:32).
His tab beams the notes in groups of three: E D B, Bb A G, E A E and G E D. Against E7 (computed), the first group is all chord tones and the second, Bb A G, has none.
| Bar | Notes | Degrees | Frets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E D B, Bb A G | R b7 5, b5 4 b3 | 1st string 12, 10. 2nd string 12, 11, 10, 8. |
| 2 | E A E, G E D | R 4 R, b3 R b7 | 3rd string 9, 2nd 10, 3rd 9, 2nd 8, 3rd 9, 7. |
Then he moves the phrase down. The low octave is as in his tab: six notes, then the chord.
“I just moved that in octaves, just like this.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson “Yea Man” Pentatonic Blues Lick, 2:50
“Now the phrase goes like this.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson “Yea Man” Pentatonic Blues Lick (1:56). Then his own playing of the phrase, high, middle and low octave.
His tab shows no bends: every note is fretted as written.
He calls it odd rhythmically; his tab writes it in 6/8 and beams it in threes.
“So it’s a really nice odd number kind of phrase which you can include in your pentatonic improvisations, which is pretty cool.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson “Yea Man” Pentatonic Blues Lick, 3:53
Major or minor blues scale?
Daniel labels the scale in this lesson “E minor blues scale.” In another lesson he adds the major third to the minor pentatonic.
“So now I get this chromatic movement inside the pentatonic scale, which is super amazing.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson Do This & Get WILD Pentatonic Blues Jazz on Guitar, 1:36
In E that is G, the minor 3rd, and G#, the major 3rd, a half step apart (computed).
He builds the whole set out loud, and the 6 is the next note he adds.
“Root, flat three, major third, four, blue note flat five, five, six, flat seven.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson Do This & Get WILD Pentatonic Blues Jazz on Guitar, 3:24
In E that is E, G, G#, A, Bb, B, C# and D (computed). Of the 6 he says:
“Kind of giving us that illusion of going to the dominant fourth or the major fourth like in the blues progression.”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson Do This & Get WILD Pentatonic Blues Jazz on Guitar, 2:29
In E the 6 is C#, the 3rd of A, the IV chord (computed).
Asked how to blues up a major pentatonic, he answers: “You add a chromatic into the third.” (from a lesson, 8 March 2026)
Daniel gets there from both sides: add the major third to the minor pentatonic, or add a chromatic note into the third of the major pentatonic. He does not teach it as a separate scale with its own name.
Where the blue note goes next
Daniel ends one blues lesson with a question to ask of anything you learn:
“Whenever you’re learning a triad, a scale, a pentatonic, a chord, ask yourself one question, that’s it. What tension can I add to the notes?”
Daniel Weiss, from his YouTube lesson Do This & Get WILD Pentatonic Blues Jazz on Guitar, 6:35
The blue note is one answer. In the same lesson he points to chromatic approaches that make triads sound like bebop (7:09 to 7:28).
Chord tones come next on triads in guitar solos, and the lines are in the bebop guide.
Practice
- Bar 1, slowly. 1st string frets 12 and 10, then 2nd string frets 12, 11, 10 and 8. Daniel plays it at 2:11.
- Bar 2. 3rd string 9, 2nd string 10, 3rd string 9, 2nd string 8, 3rd string 9 and 7. He calls it “this nice mini phrase” (2:30), and allows the last D in another spot (2:37).
- Move it down. Play the same twelve notes in the middle octave, then the first six in the low octave, as he does from 2:50 to 3:08.
- Put it over a chord. Daniel finishes by recording a loop and playing over it (4:02). Play an E7 chord and do the same.
Two common mistakes
Treating the blue note as a target. In Daniel’s lick the Bb lasts one eighth note, between B and A: play it the same way first.
Knowing the blue note in one position only. Daniel asks: “Did you really go systematically and work on knowing that in each position?” (auto-captions, 0:13)
The five pentatonic positions are on the pentatonic scale page, in A. Add the b5, Eb, to each one.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the blues scale on guitar?
- The minor pentatonic scale plus one note, the b5. In E it is E, G, A, Bb, B, D, and Daniel describes the addition as “adding a chromatic right after the fourth degree.”
- What are the blues scale shapes across the neck?
- Daniel’s on-screen tab shows the E blues scale from the open 6th string to the 1st string at fret 12, three octaves. The 6th, 4th and 2nd strings each carry four notes: the b3, 4, b5 and 5.
- Where is the b5 in the pentatonic box?
- Between the 4 and the 5. In the E minor box at frets 7 to 10 it is the 4th string, fret 8. His tab shows it across the whole neck, and he asks you to find it in all five positions.
- Can you play the blues scale over a dominant chord?
- Daniel plays his E blues lick over E7 and says the scale “can be associated with a nice dominant E7.” The scale’s G, the minor 3rd, sits a half step below the chord’s G#. His video also shows E7#9, where that G is the #9.
- What is the major blues scale?
- In these lessons Daniel does not name a separate scale. From the minor pentatonic he adds the major third (in E, G to G#); for a major pentatonic he says you add a chromatic into the third.
- Is the lick played with bends?
- No. Daniel’s tab shows none, and this page adds none.