Chord Colors

B♭ Bebop Altered scale

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About the B flat Bebop Altered scale

B flat Bebop Altered is used for bebop solos over altered dominant chords. Think of it as an altered dominant color built into a bebop scale.

Its notes are B, C, D, E, F, G, A, and A. The formula is H 1½ H W H W H H.

Also called Bebop Phrygian Dominant and Altered Bebop.

In B Bebop Altered, the open strings sound A, D, and B. The 1st fret of the A string is the lowest B on the neck. Capo the first fret to play B Bebop Altered with A-shape fingerings.

Positions

Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.

8-position system

8 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.

Position 1fr 1
Position 2fr 2
Position 3fr 4
Position 4fr 5
Position 5fr 6
Position 6fr 7
Position 7fr 10
Position 8fr 11

Notes and intervals

1BbB♭Root
2CbC♭Minor 2nd
3DDMajor 3rd
4EbE♭Perfect 4th
5FFPerfect 5th
6GbG♭Minor 6th
7AbA♭Minor 7th
8AAMajor 7th
StepsH 1½ H W H W H H
Semitones1-3-1-2-1-2-1-1
Degrees1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Bebop Altered in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

Bb Bebop Altered scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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