About the B flat Blues Diminished scale
B flat Blues Diminished is used for blues and jazz-blues solos. Think of it as a six-note blues scale with a diminished twist. It is B♭ Minor Blues with the fourth lowered.
Its notes are B♭, D♭, D, F♭, F, and A♭. The formula is 1½ H W H 1½ W.
In B♭ Blues Diminished, the open strings sound E and D. The 1st fret of the A string is the lowest B♭ on the neck. Capo the first fret to play B♭ Blues Diminished with A-shape fingerings.
Positions
Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.
6-position system
6 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.
Notes and intervals
| 1 | BbB♭ | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | DbD♭ | Minor 3rd |
| 3 | DD | Major 3rd |
| 4 | FbF♭ | Diminished 5th |
| 5 | FF | Perfect 5th |
| 6 | AbA♭ | Minor 7th |
| Steps | 1½ H W H 1½ W |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 3-1-2-1-3-2 |
| Degrees | 1 ♭3 3 ♭5 5 ♭7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Blues Diminished in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.