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Fig. 1 · F# blues · first 12 frets

guitar scale

F♯ blues

F♯1A♭3B4C♭5C♯5E♭7

Minor pentatonic with one note squeezed in between the fourth and the fifth. It is written as a flattened fifth, so the fifth letter carries both of them and the fourth keeps its own.

The same sounds spelled from the other side are G♭ blues.

on ukuleleon piano

Written out

Fig. 2 · F# blues, ascending

Every accidental is written in, rather than left to a key signature, so the letters can be read one at a time.

The step pattern

F♯W+HAWBHCHC♯W+HEWF♯

What is true of it

F♯ blues is F♯, A, B, C, C♯ and E, and back to F♯.

Its steps are W+H – W – H – H – W+H – W, where W is a whole step and H a half.

Across the first twelve frets of the guitar its notes fall in 40 places, which is what makes a scale a shape rather than a list.

Chords made only of these notes

F♯mminorF♯dimdiminishedF♯m7minor seventhF♯m7♭5half-diminished seventhAmajorAmminor

Found by testing every chord in the catalogue against these 6 sounds, not chosen.

Other scales on F♯

F♯ major pentatonicpentatonicF♯ minor pentatonicpentatonicF♯ major bluespentatonicF♯ majormajorF♯ natural minorminorF♯ harmonic minorminor

C bluesC♯ bluesD♭ bluesD bluesD♯ bluesE♭ bluesE bluesF bluesall 374