Chord Colors

D♯ 9b5 Pentatonic scale

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About the D sharp 9b5 Pentatonic scale

D sharp 9b5 Pentatonic is used for jazz solos over altered and half-diminished chords. Think of it as a five-note scale with a minor third and a flat fifth.

Its notes are D, E, F, A, and C. The formula is W H 1½ 4 semitones W.

An unfretted guitar already sounds A from the scale. A guitarist finds the lowest D at the 6th fret of the A string. Capo the first fret to play D 9b5 Pentatonic with D-shape fingerings.

Positions

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

Pentatonic boxes

The five shapes blues and rock are built on, the first scale most guitarists ever solo with, one box per note up the neck.

Box 1fr 1
Box 2fr 2
Box 3fr 5
Box 4fr 9
Box 5fr 11

Notes and intervals

1D#D♯Root
2E#E♯Major 2nd
3F#F♯Minor 3rd
4AADiminished 5th
5C#C♯Minor 7th
StepsW H 1½ 4 semitones W
Semitones2-1-3-4-2
Degrees1 2 3 5 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

9b5 Pentatonic in other keys

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Eb 9b5 Pentatonic scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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