D Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale — Drop B
Guitar scale in Drop B tuning — fretboard diagram
D Minor Pentatonic in Drop B — Notes and Intervals
The D Minor Pentatonic scale is the most influential scale in the history of rock and guitar music. On Guitar, its notes are D, F, G, A, C. It offers a gritty, powerful, and bluesy sound that is highly versatile, serving as the primary tool for improvising solos in rock, blues, and metal and providing a safe but expressive framework for beginners and pros alike. Commonly used in Blues, Rock, Metal, R&B, Funk. Notable players include Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, B.B. King, Slash, Angus Young. Use over minor chords, dominant 7th chords (in blues), and power chords. The backbone of rock and blues guitar for 70+ years.
Notes: D, F, G, A, C
Intervals: 1P, 3m, 4P, 5P, 7m
Degrees: 1 b2 3 4 b5
Formula: WH-W-W-WH-W
Number of notes: 5
Tuning: Drop B (B-F#-B-E-G#-C#)
Also known as: vietnamese 2
About Drop B Tuning
Drop B tuning (B-F#-B-E-G#-C#) takes the guitar into territory traditionally reserved for 7-string instruments, delivering a subsonic heaviness that you can feel in your chest. This tuning has become essential in modern extreme metal, deathcore, and djent, where low-end clarity and rhythmic precision are paramount.
Drop B represents the practical limit of what a standard 6-string guitar can handle before tone quality degrades. With the right string gauge (12-60 or heavier) and proper setup, it delivers the crushing lows of a 7-string while keeping the familiar 6-string layout. Bands like Architects, Periphery (on some tracks), and Parkway Drive have used Drop B to create some of the heaviest riffs in modern metal.
Notable artists: Architects, Parkway Drive, Whitechapel, Born of Osiris, Emmure
Best for: Extreme metal riffs, deathcore breakdowns, djent chugs, and any style demanding the lowest possible 6-string tuning
Explore This Scale in Other Tunings
- D Minor Pentatonic in Standard Tuning
- D Minor Pentatonic in Drop D
- D Minor Pentatonic in DADGAD
- D Minor Pentatonic in Open G
- D Minor Pentatonic in Baritone (B Standard)
- D Minor Pentatonic in 7-string
- D Minor Pentatonic in 8-string
- D Minor Pentatonic in Drop C
- D Minor Pentatonic in Open D
- D Minor Pentatonic in Half Step Down
- D Minor Pentatonic in Open E
- D Minor Pentatonic in Open A
- D Minor Pentatonic in Double Drop D
- D Minor Pentatonic in Open C