The “Big 6″ Scales for Rock and Blues

The pentatonic scale is a critical scale in blues music.

Guitarists are who are involved in chords for accompaniment have no need for scales. If, however, improvisation becomes necessary, scales are mandatory.

Scales are the basic source material for melody. They are quite simply a collection of notes in generally alphabetical order. The difference from one scale to another is the variations in distance from one note to the next note. Step distances vary from one half to one and a half steps. 

Pianists who practice scales have historically done so for agility and coordination. They are good preparation for scale passages that come up in repertoire. Since classical study does not focus on improvisation, scale practice is, for the most part, technical. A jazz pianist, on the other hand, has always worked on scales as a base from which to improvise.

There is a staggering array of scales. Fortunately, there are a reasonable number of critical scales. Different scales have different levels of importance according to the style or idiom of music.

Here are some examples. Starting with Rock and Blues: Blues, Pentatonic, Dorian, Aeolian, Ionian, and Mixolydian scales are dominant. The two most important are Blues and Pentatonic.

Here are the “big 6″ scales in the key of C:

Blues C Eb F G Bb and the octave C
Pentatonic C D E G A and the octave C
Dorian  C D Eb F G A Bb and the octave C
Aeolian C D Eb F G Ab Bb and the octave C
Ionian C D E F G A B and the octave C
Mixolydian C D E F G A Bb and the octave C

Many years ago, I wrote a book documenting these scales for use on the guitar for Rock and Blues music. There is a brand new edition coming out soon.

Note from LRG: We will carry this book in our new eStore. Check back soon!