An addition to chromaticblue's entry:
Blues scales:
- 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7 8 is the minor blues scale.
- 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, 6, 8 is the major blues scale.
It's all to do with
relative minors of the
major scale
Note that numbers represent the degree of the
scale (e.g. 1=C , 2=D in the scale of C) and 'b' means 'flatened'. So:
- Minor blues: C, Eb, F, Gb, G, Bb, C
- Major blues: C, D, Eb, E, G, A, C
(Although when
improvising over a
blueschord progression you could use both.)
The
minor pentatonicscale also goes by the same rule and has a flattened
third note
- Major: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 (e.g. C, D, E, G, A, C)
- Minor: 1, 2, b3, 5, 6, 8 (e.g. C, D, Eb, G, A, C)