Chord Colors

F♯ 9b5 Pentatonic scale

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About the F sharp 9b5 Pentatonic scale

F 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 F, G, A, C, and E. The formula is W H 1½ 4 semitones W.

An unfretted guitar already sounds E and A from this scale. A guitarist finds the lowest F at the 2nd fret of the low E string. A capo at the second fret lets a guitarist play F 9b5 Pentatonic with E-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 1open
Box 2fr 2
Box 3fr 4
Box 4fr 5
Box 5fr 8

Notes and intervals

1F#F♯Root
2G#G♯Major 2nd
3AAMinor 3rd
4CCDiminished 5th
5EEMinor 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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Gb 9b5 Pentatonic scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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