C Blues scale on guitar
Every note of the C Blues scale — C E♭ F G♭ G B♭ — with the step pattern, what it sounds like, where it's used, and famous songs built on it. All scales are free in the interactive fretboard tool.
The scale on the neck
Here's C Blues over the first 12 frets of the guitar (standard EADGBE tuning). The pink notes are the root (C); tap any note to hear it, or play the whole scale ascending.
Press Make it interactive and the same scale opens across all 24 frets, with every other tuning and capo position, and with each note labelled by its interval from the root (R, ♭3, 4…) instead of by name. The numbers are the same in every key, so what you learn here transposes straight to G or E. (Note: the root shows there as R, not as C.)
The notes
Each note is labelled with its scale degree relative to the major scale — that formula (1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7) is the scale's fingerprint, identical in every key.
The step pattern
1½–W–H–H–1½–W — W is a whole step (two frets), H a half step (one fret), and 1½ a step and a half (three frets). Start on any Con the neck, walk that pattern up one string, and you've played C Blues.
How it's built
C Blues is a six-note scale — minor pentatonic plus the “blue note”. What makes it different: The minor pentatonic with one chromatic “blue note” — the ♭5 — slipped in between the 4th and the 5th.
Take the minor pentatonic and wedge the ♭5 between the 4 and the 5. Everything you already play in the pentatonic still works — the blue note is the seasoning.
What it sounds like & where it's used
The sound: Gritty and expressive — that ♭5 is the “cry”. It's a passing tone: lean on it, bend through it, but resolve it.
Where you'll hear it: Blues, rock and jazz, usually as extra colour passing through pentatonic lines.
Famous music built on this scale
the iconic riff walks down the D blues scale, blue note included.
the world's most famous riff hits the ♭5 blue note in its second phrase.
Blues in every key
Other scales on C
Song and artist names are mentioned for identification and educational commentary only — we don't reproduce lyrics, tabs or recordings. Scales and their formulas are shared facts of music theory.
See C Blues across the whole neck — colored by interval, with fingerings and audio, on guitar, bass and ukulele. Every scale and all 12 roots are free in the interactive tool.
Open C Blues on the fretboardFrequently asked
What notes are in the C Blues scale?
C Blues contains 6 notes: C, E♭, F, G♭, G, B♭.
What is the formula for the blues scale?
The interval formula is 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7, which is the step pattern 1½–W–H–H–1½–W (W = whole step, H = half step, 1½ = a step and a half). Start on C and apply those steps to get C, E♭, F, G♭, G, B♭.
When should I use C Blues?
Blues, rock and jazz, usually as extra colour passing through pentatonic lines. Sound-wise: Gritty and expressive — that ♭5 is the “cry”. It's a passing tone: lean on it, bend through it, but resolve it.