Rock / Blues Scales & Modes for Guitar:

Heptatonic Scale for blues/rock guitar 1

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A quick word before we start about two ways you can help yourself to become a better guitarist:

• Use guitar software - such as this one (go for the free trial download)
• Take guitar lessons - this guy's good (it's a 'learn guitar online' package)

"What is the heptatonic scale?"

'Heptatonic scale' simply means a scale in which there are seven notes to the octave. This means that the major scale, the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale, are all heptatonic scales.

But there is one heptatonic scale (existing in two forms - major and minor) which is really useful for any blues or rock guitarist to know. I will call it the Heptatonic Blues Scale, because it has seven notes to the octave and therefore qualifies as being heptatonic, and also because it is so applicable to blues and rock guitar playing, whether playing guitar riffs or guitar solos.

Fretboard patterns/shapes are the same for major and relative minor

The guitar fretboard shapes/patterns are identical for both the major and minor forms of this scale. The only difference is that the root notes are different. This is because every major key has a relative minor key.

Minor Heptatonic Blues Scale

On this page we'll look at the minor form of the heptatonic blues scale.

The pattern of intervals in the minor heptatonic blues scale

The intervals of the minor heptatonic blues scale are as follows: minor 3rd - perfect 4th - augmented 4th/diminished 5th - perfect 5th - minor 7th - major 7th - octave.

Here's the first position of the minor heptatonic blues scale, in E minor:

E minor heptatonic blues scale - first position

If you've studied the other pages about scales for guitar on this site then you'll immediately recognise that this scale includes and merges three others which we've already covered:

• The minor pentatonic scale - notes in red and brown
• The minor hexatonic sharp 4 scale - pentatonic plus notes in orange
• The minor hexatonic major 7 scale - pentatonic plus notes in blue

Here are the other positions of the E minor heptatonic blues scale up the guitar neck:

E minor heptatonic blues scale - second position

E minor heptatonic blues scale - third position

E minor heptatonic blues scale - fourth position

E minor heptatonic blues scale - fifth position

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