F Blues Scale
The common F minor blues scale uses F, A flat, B flat, C flat, C, E flat. It begins with F minor pentatonic and adds C flat between B flat and C. The extra note is the lowered fifth, often called the blue note in this six-note pattern.
- Notes: F-A flat-B flat-C flat-C-E flat
- Added note: C flat
- Six notes
Which notes are in the scale?
Play F-A flat-B flat-C flat-C-E flat-F. Leave out C flat and you have F minor pentatonic: F-A flat-B flat-C-E flat. That is the fastest way to remember the six-note set. The notes F-A flat-C form the tonic minor chord.
What exactly is the blue note?
C flat uses the piano key labeled B. The flat name tells you that it is the fifth, C, lowered by a half step.
Try B flat-C flat-C and then B flat-C. The first version passes through a point of tension; the second skips over it. How long you stay on C flat can matter as much as whether you include it.
How can you use it in a phrase?
Play B flat-C flat-C over an F bass. Then play F-A flat-B flat-C flat-C and end on F; repeat without C flat.
This six-note list is a practical entry to blues phrasing, not a complete rule for the style. A singer or guitarist can bend pitches between piano keys. Over F7, the minor third A flat can also rub against the chord's major third A; listen to the accompaniment when you sustain it. Pentatonic and Blues Scales explains how the note set and the played phrase differ.
Keep going
Every pentatonic and blues scale
- C Blues Scale
- C Pentatonic Scale
- C# Blues Scale
- C# Pentatonic Scale
- D Blues Scale
- D Pentatonic Scale
- Eb Blues Scale
- Eb Pentatonic Scale
- E Blues Scale
- E Pentatonic Scale
- F Blues Scale
- F Pentatonic Scale
- F# Blues Scale
- F# Pentatonic Scale
- G Blues Scale
- G Pentatonic Scale
- Ab Blues Scale
- Ab Pentatonic Scale
- A Blues Scale
- A Pentatonic Scale
- Bb Blues Scale
- Bb Pentatonic Scale
- B Blues Scale
- B Pentatonic Scale