A Composite Blues Guitar Scale

A Composite Blues Scale — Notes and Intervals

The A Composite Blues scale is a comprehensive nine-note jazz scale that merges major and minor blues structures. On Guitar, it contains the notes A, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F#, G. It allows improvisers absolute melodic freedom over dominant chords, blending happiness and grit in every line. Commonly used in Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Funk. Notable players include John Scofield, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton. Use over dominant 7th chords in blues and jazz-blues. Contains both major and minor 3rds, allowing fluid switching between bright and dark.

Notes: A, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F#, G

Intervals: 1P, 2M, 3m, 3M, 4P, 5d, 5P, 6M, 7m

Degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 8 b9

Formula: W-H-H-H-H-H-W-H-W

Number of notes: 9

Musical Character

A 9-note 'super blues' scale that merges major and minor blues, giving improvisers absolute freedom to blend happy and gritty textures over dominant chords.

Genres & Notable Artists

Genres: Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Funk

Notable players: John Scofield, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton

How to Use the A Composite Blues Scale

Use over dominant 7th chords in blues and jazz-blues. Contains both major and minor 3rds, allowing fluid switching between bright and dark.

Origin & Background

A jazz-blues composite that merges major and minor pentatonic blues into a single comprehensive scale.

How to Play A Composite Blues on Guitar

Place your index finger at fret 5 on the 6th (low E) to find your A root note. Because this scale has 9 notes, four-notes-per-string stretches may be necessary. Start with a single position and expand gradually. Keep your thumb centered behind the neck for reach.

The A Composite Blues scale contains both sharps and flats (2 sharps, 1 flat), which is common in altered and exotic scales. This scale does not follow a traditional major or minor key signature, so reading from sheet music may require accidentals.

Practice Routine

Set a metronome to 100 BPM and play the A Composite Blues scale in groups of four notes, shifting the starting note each repetition. This builds muscle memory across the entire scale range. After a week, try improvising short 4-bar phrases using only these notes.

Experiment with simple two-chord vamps rooted on A to let the characteristic intervals of the Composite Blues scale come through clearly. This scale is especially effective in funk contexts.

Guitar Tips

On guitar, practice the A Composite Blues scale on a single string from the open position to the 12th fret. This trains your ear to hear the intervals linearly and helps with slide guitar applications. Aim for a rich quality in your phrasing to match the natural character of this scale.

Related Scales

• A Major blues
• A Minor blues
• A Mixolydian
• A Bebop

The A Composite Blues scale contains 9 notes (A, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F#, G). Use the interactive fretboard above to explore this scale on Guitar with different tunings and fret ranges.

CAGED Positions & Patterns for A Composite Blues

The A Composite Blues scale can be played in 5 CAGED positions across the fretboard, each based on an open chord shape (C, A, G, E, D). As a 9-note scale, it also lends itself to 3-notes-per-string (3NPS) patterns that facilitate legato playing and diagonal shifting. Use the pattern selector above to isolate each position.

Explore A Composite Blues Further

• Harmonize the A Composite Blues scale — triads & 7th chords
• Browse chord progressions
• A Composite Blues on Ukulele
• A Composite Blues on Bass
• A Composite Blues on Piano

Explore A Composite Blues in Other Tunings

• A Composite Blues in Drop D (E-B-G-D-A-D)
• A Composite Blues in DADGAD (D-A-G-D-A-D)
• A Composite Blues in Open G (D-B-G-D-G-D)
• A Composite Blues in Baritone (B Standard) (B-F#-D-A-E-B)
• A Composite Blues in 7-string (E-B-G-D-A-E-B)
• A Composite Blues in 8-string (E-B-G-D-A-E-B-F#)
• A Composite Blues in Drop C (D-A-F-C-G-C)
• A Composite Blues in Drop B (C#-G#-E-B-F#-B)
• A Composite Blues in Open D (D-A-F#-D-A-D)
• A Composite Blues in Half Step Down (Eb-Bb-Gb-Db-Ab-Eb)
• A Composite Blues in Open E (E-B-G#-E-B-E)
• A Composite Blues in Open A (E-C#-A-E-A-E)
• A Composite Blues in Double Drop D (D-B-G-D-A-D)
• A Composite Blues in Open C (E-C-G-C-G-C)

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