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Eb Minor Pentatonic vs Eb Blues

Eb minor pentatonic and blues drawn on one neck. They differ by 1 note.

Eb Minor Pentatonic and Eb Blues on one guitar fretboard, the shared notes and the differences marked13578910121415eBGDAEGbAbABbDbEbGbDbEbGbAbABbDbAbABbDbEbGbAbABbEbGbAbABbDbEbABbDbEbGbAbABbGbAbABbDbEbGb

Tap any note on the neck.

Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.

Eb minor pentatonic is Eb blues without the b5 — no A.

Eb minor pentatonic vs Eb blues: what is different

Eb minor pentatonic is Eb blues with one note left out. Every note of minor pentatonic is also in blues; blues adds:

Shared by both: Eb Gb Ab Bb Db.

When to use which

The bigger scale has more colour and more ways to go wrong; the smaller one is safer and plainer. Start solos in the smaller scale and add the extra note as a passing tone, on the way to a note that belongs to the chord. Live on the extra note and it stops sounding like colour and starts sounding like a mistake.

Hear the difference

Eb Minor Pentatonic
Eb   Gb   Ab   Bb   Db
Eb Blues
Eb   Gb   Ab   A   Bb   Db
Shared notes
Eb   Gb   Ab   Bb   Db
Only in Minor Pentatonic
Nothing — every note is also in blues
Only in Blues
A (b5)
Compare these two on the interactive neck →

Free, no account needed. Change the key and both scales follow.

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