Tips for Learning the A# / Bb Blues Scale on Guitar
It is Bb minor pentatonic plus one note
Take Bb minor pentatonic (Bb Db Eb F Ab) and slip an E between the 4th (Eb) and 5th (F). That single ♭5 — the "blue note" — is the only difference from the pentatonic box.
The blue note is a passing tone
The E♮ sounds tense on its own — use it to pass through, bending or sliding from Eb up to F, rather than landing on it. In motion it gives the scale its vocal cry.
Read it as Bb
Guitarists almost always read this scale as Bb rather than A# — Bb is the spelling used in flat keys, horn charts, and most blues and jazz. The fingerings are identical either way.
The first box at fret 6
Anchor position 1 at fret 6 with the root Bb on the low E string — the same shape as Bb minor pentatonic, with the E one fret below the F on each string. A favourite key for brass-driven blues.
Target Bb, Db, and F
Those three notes spell a Bb minor chord and make phrases sound resolved. Eb, E, and Ab are colour tones — the E blue note is the spiciest, best saved for tension.
About the A# / Bb Blues Scale
The Bb blues scale is six notes — Bb, Db, Eb, E, F, Ab — the Bb minor pentatonic scale with one extra note, the ♭5 (E), added between the 4th and 5th. That added tone is the famous "blue note": it creates the tense, vocal, crying sound that defines blues and rock lead guitar. It is the same scale as A# blues, but guitarists almost always read it as Bb — a favourite key for brass and jazz-blues. On the fretboard it sits in the same five box positions as Bb minor pentatonic, the first box anchored at fret 6, with the blue note one fret below the 5th on each string.
- 01Notes: Bb – Db – Eb – E – F – Ab
- 02Scale degrees: 1 – ♭3 – 4 – ♭5 – 5 – ♭7
- 03Built by adding the ♭5 (E) "blue note" to Bb minor pentatonic
- 04Six notes — the minor pentatonic plus one chromatic passing tone
- 05Same scale as A# blues — usually read as Bb
- 06Shares the same five box shapes as Bb minor pentatonic
- 07Works over Bb minor, Bb7, and twelve-bar blues in Bb
A# / Bb Blues — note by note
Every blues scale uses the same six-note formula — scale degrees 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, and ♭7. It is the minor pentatonic with the ♭5 "blue note" added between the 4th and 5th, the chromatic passing tone that gives the blues scale its signature tension and vocal cry.
| Degree | Note | Role | Interval (from root) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A# / Bb | Root (tonic) | Unison (0 st) |
| ♭3 | C# / Db | Minor third | +3 semitones |
| 4 | D# / Eb | Perfect fourth | +5 semitones |
| ♭5 | E | Blue note (♭5) | +6 semitones |
| 5 | F | Perfect fifth | +7 semitones |
| ♭7 | G# / Ab | Minor seventh | +10 semitones |