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Guitar scale

Eb blues scale (D# blues)

The Eb blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus the blue note (♭5), one extra semitone carrying all the tension and release of the blues. Best for blues, rock and country lead lines.

By Chiye · Updated · Counts from the 80 song sheets on openguitarchords.com

Root
Eb
Notes
EbGbAbABbDb
Formula
m3-W-H-H-m3-W
Parent scale
Eb minor pentatonic
Learning path
Step 5 of 5
123456789101112131415EADGBeGbAbABbDbEbGbABbDbEbGbAbABbEbGbAbABbDbEbAbABbDbEbGbAbABbDbEbGbAbABbDbGbAbABbDbEbGb
All 15 frets, high e string on top. Orange marks an Eb root, the box is the one position to start with, and fret 0 is an open string.
Print or save the Eb blues chart
Eb blues scale chart: every note from fret 0 to 15 across all six strings, root notes marked in orange

940 × 230 px version of the chart above, sized for a phone screen or a printed handout. Tap the image to save it.

The Eb blues scale is the six notes Eb, Gb, Ab, A, Bb and Db. Read as scale degrees from Eb, that is 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7. Every note is a fixed distance from the one before it: m3-W-H-H-m3-W, where W is a whole step (2 frets) and H is a half step (1 fret), and m3 is three frets. That pattern is the whole scale. Move it so the root lands on a different note and you are playing that key's blues scale. Having only six notes, it fits a narrow set of chords: any triad built entirely from Eb, Gb, Ab, A, Bb and Db sits under it without clashing. On the guitar this is not one shape but overlapping positions: the lowest Eb sits at fret 1 on the D string.

Start here: one Eb blues position

Every note of the scale inside frets 1 to 5 sits in the box highlighted on the full neck above. The diagram below is that box on its own, numbered in the order to play it. Learn this one box first; the rest of the neck is the same shape repeated.

Play the box in this order

12345EADGBeGbAbABbDbEbGbAbA123456
Numbers 1 to 6 are the playing order, one note at a time. Letters are the other Eb blues notes in this position; orange letters are roots.

Eb 1 → Gb ♭3 → Ab 4 → A ♭5 → Bb 5 → Db ♭7

Plays exactly the run numbered above, one note at a time.

Every Eb on the neck

low Efret 11
Afret 6
Dfret 1
Gfret 8
Bfret 4
high Efret 11

What notes are in the Eb blues scale?

  1. Eb1Root
  2. m3
  3. Gb♭3Minor 3rd
  4. W
  5. Ab4Perfect 4th
  6. H
  7. A♭5Tritone
  8. H
  9. Bb5Perfect 5th
  10. m3
  11. Db♭7Minor 7th
  12. W
  13. Eb1octave

W whole step (2 frets), H half step (1 fret), m3 minor 3rd (3 frets). The same pattern from any other root gives that key's blues scale.

This scale is the Eb minor pentatonic scale with one note added, the flat 5th (A). Slide into it or bend through it, but do not sit on it: the pull back to Bb is the whole sound.

Chords that fit the Eb blues scale

A chord fits this scale when all of its notes are already in the scale, which is a test you can run yourself rather than a style guide. Ordered by real use in the library.

F#m9 uses hereF#2 uses hereC#sus4no uses yetC#sus2no uses yetEbmno uses yetEbm7no uses yet

How to practise the Eb blues scale

  1. Frets 1 to 5, slowly. The position above, up and back, naming every note out loud. Naming is what turns a shape into a scale.
  2. Then find the next Eb: A string, fret 6. Build the same shape from there and play root to root at 60 BPM, one note per beat.
  3. Then stop counting. Improvise on these notes for two minutes over any backing track in Ebm / D#m / F#. That is what the scale is for.

Eb blues scale: common questions

What notes are in the Eb blues scale?
The Eb blues scale is Eb, Gb, Ab, A, Bb and Db. Counting from the root Eb, the degrees are 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7.
What is the formula for the Eb blues scale?
The step pattern is m3-W-H-H-m3-W. Read left to right from Eb: minor 3rd (3 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret), then half step (1 fret), then minor 3rd (3 frets), then whole step (2 frets). Apply the same pattern from any other note and you get that note's blues scale.
What chords work with the Eb blues scale?
Any chord built only from these notes: Eb, Gb, Ab, A, Bb and Db. The chords that fit are F#m, F#, C#sus4 and C#sus2, and F#m is the one this site's library uses most, 9 times. Every note of the scale is a safe landing note over any of them.
How is the Eb blues scale related to the Eb pentatonic scales?
The Eb blues scale is the Eb minor pentatonic with the flat 5th (A) added. The pentatonics work the other way: Eb major pentatonic takes Ab and D out of Eb major, leaving five notes that are hard to play wrong.
What is the easiest fingering for the Eb blues scale?
The position above starts on the D string at fret 1 and stays inside frets 1 to 5: Eb at fret 1 on the D, then Gb at fret 4 on the D, then Ab at fret 1 on the G, then A at fret 2 on the G, then Bb at fret 3 on the G, then Db at fret 2 on the B. Everything else on the neck is the same notes repeated in other positions.
How do I practise the Eb blues scale?
Play the position in frets 1 to 5 up and back, naming every note out loud. When the shape is automatic, build the same shape from the next Eb up the neck, at fret 6 on the A string, and only then add a metronome at 60 BPM.

More Eb scales

Eb majorEb natural minorEb major pentatonicEb minor pentatonic

This scale in other keys

C bluesC# bluesD bluesE bluesF bluesF# bluesG bluesAb bluesAll 60 scale charts
Previous keyEb minor pentatonicNext keyE major