24.3 · The Pentatonic Scale
Add the blue note
Take the minor pentatonic and wedge in one outsider: the flat 5, squeezed between 4 and 5. That's the blues scale, and that one note is the blue note. It clashes with the key on purpose, and players slide through it rather than stopping on it.
Five plus one
The same run twice: five notes, then six. Listen for where the new note squeezes in.
On the neck
The same box, with one addition: the dashed ring marks the blue note (E flat), sitting right inside the shape.
The blue note in a lick
A swung lick over an A7 shuffle, leaning on the blue note in both directions.
Game · Blue note or not?
1 / 6One lick per round: either plain minor pentatonic, or the same lick with the blue note inside. Which did you hear?
Quiz
1 / 3The blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus…