So you want to learn the A Blues scale?

The key of A is a very strong and bright sounding key which makes it great for rock and blues songs on guitar; because of the opportunity to use open string chords to create lively, vibrant guitar sounds guitarists tend to favor the sharp keys of E, A, D and G over the flat keys e.g., F, Bb, Eb Ab and Db.

Now the key (pun intended) to playing great solos is selecting the appropriate type of scale for the style of song you are playing. The three main types of scales guitar players use are the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic and blues scale.

Types of scales

Essentially the major pentatonic is ideal for country, country rock or pop songs; the minor pentatonic is best suited to rock and blues and the blues scale works well in rock and blues settings although an experienced player can weave it into just about any style of song.

Lets say you needed to create an extended solo for a song like “Tears In Heaven” by Eric Clapton … the major pentatonic would be a good choice whereas if your band was performing “Johnny B Good” by Chuck Berry the minor pentatonic or blues scale will be your best choice.

It’s a good idea to make a conscious effort to determine which type of scale would suit a particular song, try training yourself to do this without the guitar in your hands, a simple way to do this is set your alarm clock for a half an hour before you have to get up and listen closely to the songs being played on the radio all the while trying to decide which type of scale would best suit the song(s) you are listening to, try this for a few
weeks and you will be amazed how quickly your ear develops!

A blues scale and other scales you should learn

In today’s article I’ll focus on the A blues scale, let’s check out the differences between the three common scales in A.

A minor pentatonic = A – C – D – E – G – A

A major pentatonic = A – B – C# – E – F# – A

A blues scale = A – C – D – Eb – E – G – A

Now we will take a look at how these scales could be played on the guitar, keynotes indicated [  ].

A minor pentatonic

——————————-
——————————–
——————————–
——————–5–[7]—
———–5–7————–
-[5]–8———————-

A blues

———————————
———————————
———————————
————————5–[7]-
———–5–6–7————
-[5]–8————————

A major pentatonic

———————————-
———————————-
————————–[2]—-
—————–2–4———–
——–2–4——————–
-[5]—————————–

Another way to approach scale playing on the guitar is to play your scales in a linear fashion, the A blues scale could be played as a linear scale like this …

A Blues scale: Linear version

Linear blues scale, key of A.

A = 5th

C = 8th

D = 10th

Eb = 11th

E = 12th

G = 15th

A = 17th

These are just some of the many ways you can play the A blues scale on the guitar the trick is to learn the names of the notes in the scale and know where the notes are position on the fretboard that way you will be able to discover multiple ways of playing solos on the guitar.

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