Blues Scales: What Scale Do I Play Over a Blues?

If you are just starting out with the Blues and you are wondering where to begin to create your solos, then this lesson is for you. I will be answering here a very common question that is ‘which scale should I use to play over a 12 bars blues?’. I will show you here the most important scale you need to know to play blues and the number one mistake many guitar players make so you can avoid it.

If you want to find out all of this and more, watch this lesson, subscribe to my Youtube channel and Join thousand of other guitar players in my free online community by clicking the yellow box bellow!

Blues Scales Lesson – What Scale Do I Play For Blues?

So what scale can you play over a 12 bar blues if you want to solo? There are lots of possible scales you can use…but there is one that ALL the blues legends use most of the time: the minor pentatonic scale.
In this episode of the Ask James Guitar Show I’ll show you how to play the scale, how to use it over the 12 bar blues and I’ll also tell you the no.1 mistake that many new blues guitarists make with the scale which stops them sounding great when they use it.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s in this guitar lesson:

0:17 What scale should you use to play over a blues? The major scale? The minor scale? Pentatonic scales? This is a question I hear a lot!

0:40 There are lots of scales you can use over a blues but the most common is the minor pentatonic scale. This is the best starting point and definitely where you should begin.

0:50 Here’s exactly how to play a minor pentatonic scale in the key of G.

1:35 Lots of guitar player think you need to move the scale around when the chords change in the 12 bar blues- but you don’t!! You can play the minor pentatonic scale over the entire blues chord sequence…there is no need to move it anywhere.

2:27 Hear the sound of the scale over a 12 bar blues – it works great!
It’s simple and easy to do meaning you can focus on the important things…like playing stuff that sounds good and makes you sound like a blues guitarist!

3:00 You need to play the scale in the right key though!

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CHANGING KEYS CLICK HERE!

3:30 Knowing the scale is a great start but you also need to build up a library of great sounding blues licks you can use to make your playing sound musical.

You might also like

• Stevie Ray Vaughan Style Open String Blues Licks
  3rd November 2016