C sharp Blues Scale

1Composition: what it contains

C♯ – E – F♯ – G – G♯ – B

Formula

1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7

Steps

W+H – W – H – H – W+H – W

Number of notes

6

Sharps and flats

3 ♯

Also called

minor blues scale, hexatonic blues scale

2Appearance: diagrams and sound

Tip: click any note, key or fret to hear it. Orange = root.

3Indications: what it is used for

The minor pentatonic plus the flat fifth (1-♭3-4-♭5-5-♭7). It is played over the twelve-bar blues, minor blues, blues-rock, jazz blues heads, funk and soul. It fits the dominant seventh chords of a blues progression (I7–IV7–V7) and minor seventh grooves. Use the flat fifth as a chromatic passing tone between the fourth and fifth, or bend into it. It is also popular for riffs in rock and for bass lines that walk chromatically up to the fifth.

4Dosage: how to practise it

Ten minutes daily over a twelve-bar shuffle at 70–100 BPM. Play the scale in all five pentatonic positions with the added flat fifth. Practise three-note chromatic motion 4-♭5-5 and 5-♭5-4 in triplets. Learn call-and-response two-bar phrases: a question on the I chord, an answer resolving to the root. On guitar, add quarter-tone bends on the minor third. On piano, use grace notes from ♭3 to the major third and from ♭5 to 5.

5Warnings and common mistakes

The flat fifth is a passing note, not a resting note: holding it over the tonic chord sounds unresolved. Do not confuse it with the major blues scale, which adds a flat third to the major pentatonic instead. Avoid playing the scale up and down as an exercise in a real solo; it sounds mechanical. Over the V7 chord, target its third (the major seventh of the key) for a stronger sound. Spell the blue note as ♭5 in minor context, even if some sources write ♯4.

6Interactions with chords, scales and keys

Chords that fit this scale

C♯m C♯dim C♯sus4 C♯m7 C♯m7♭5 C♯7sus4

Same notes, different starting point

• E Major Blues Scale

7Other presentations available

The same scale from every note

• C Blues Scale
• D Blues Scale
• D sharp Blues Scale
• E Blues Scale
• F Blues Scale
• F sharp Blues Scale
• G Blues Scale
• G sharp Blues Scale
• A Blues Scale
• B flat Blues Scale
• B Blues Scale

Other scales from the same note

• D flat Major Scale
• C sharp Natural Minor Scale
• C sharp Harmonic Minor Scale
• C sharp Melodic Minor Scale
• C sharp Dorian Mode
• C sharp Phrygian Mode
• D flat Lydian Mode
• D flat Mixolydian Mode
• C sharp Locrian Mode
• D flat Major Pentatonic Scale
• C sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
• D flat Major Blues Scale
• D flat Whole Tone Scale
• C sharp Half-Whole Diminished Scale
• C sharp Whole-Half Diminished Scale
• C sharp Phrygian Dominant Scale
• C sharp Hungarian Minor Scale
• D flat Lydian Dominant Scale
• C sharp Altered Scale
• C sharp Double Harmonic Major Scale
• D flat Bebop Dominant Scale