The A Blues Scale is the minor pentatonic scale with a note added to it.(b5 or diminish 5th) This scale usually played in every position where you would play the pentatonic scale. The added note (b5) gives the sound a very interesting sound and flavor while playing blues.
It never hurts to practice the scale in all the all six positions. This way you know it all over the fret-board and are not just playing it in one place all the time. Try playing this scale in A starting at the fifth fret shown in the scale fingerings below. The next octave scale fingering position is the same as the first one at fret (17) and starts over again after the last fingering.
Try it in the root E next starting at the open string scale fingering position (0) instead of fret (5) and play all the scale fingering positions up & down. Find a blues song in the same key and experiment jamming along in all the these scale fingering positions to get a feel for it Try it with a slow blues song to make it easier. The song by Stevie Ray Vaughan – Leave My Little Girl Alone is in A and it’s a good one to start with. Try bending notes with the (5) note up a half step to the (b5) note everywhere in all the scale fingering positions.
By Jeff Cox
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