F# Blues Scale
The common F sharp minor blues scale uses F sharp, A, B, C, C sharp, E. It begins with F sharp minor pentatonic and adds C between B and C sharp. The extra note is the lowered fifth, often called the blue note in this six-note pattern.
- Notes: F sharp-A-B-C-C sharp-E
- Added note: C
- Six notes
Which notes are in the scale?
Play F sharp-A-B-C-C sharp-E-F sharp. Leave out C and you have F# minor pentatonic: F sharp-A-B-C sharp-E. That is the fastest way to remember the six-note set. The notes F sharp-A-C sharp form the tonic minor chord.
What exactly is the blue note?
C natural lies between B and C sharp. In the six-note minor-blues formula it is the lowered fifth of F sharp, not a new root.
Try B-C-C sharp and then B-C sharp. The first version passes through a point of tension; the second skips over it. How long you stay on C can matter as much as whether you include it.
How can you use it in a phrase?
Play B-C-C sharp in a short burst, then E-C sharp-A-F sharp. Keep the C brief on the first pass and longer on the second.
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 F#7, the minor third A can also rub against the chord's major third A sharp; 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