E major blues pentatonic scale on tenor sax
E major blues pentatonic has 5 notes: E F♯ A B C♯. Degrees: 1 2 4 5 6. Formula: W W+H W W W+H.
What notes are in the E major blues pentatonic scale?
E, F♯, A, B and C♯. It has 5 notes; its formula in whole and half steps is W W+H W W W+H.
What does E major blues pentatonic sound like, and when do you use it?
No 3rd, with a 6th: open, folk and Eastern at once. Use it over sus2, 6sus.
Chord progressions to improvise with E major blues pentatonic
In Jam mode (the Jam button above) a band of grand piano, upright bass and drums (recorded instruments) plays these progressions as swing, bossa, groove or ballad, and the staff lights up the notes of each chord as it plays. It's a backing track made for this scale in E:
- Blues (I7–IV7–V7): 12 bars over E7, A7 and B7. The 12-bar blues: three 7 chords with the scale on top. The clash between the ♭3 and the chord's 3rd is the blues.
E major blues pentatonic on tenor sax: written notes and fingerings
The tenor sax is a B♭ instrument: written E major blues pentatonic sounds D major blues pentatonic in concert pitch. Fingering for each note, from low to high (left hand | right hand):
- E: 123 | 12
- F♯: 123 | 2
- A: 12 | –
- B: 1 | –
- C♯: – | –
- E: 123 | 12 + octave key
Same notes as
A major pentatonic · F♯ minor pentatonic · B Egyptian (suspended) · E Yo
Major blues pentatonic in other keys
On other instruments
E major blues pentatonic on piano · E major blues pentatonic on guitar · E major blues pentatonic on bass · E major blues pentatonic on ukulele · E major blues pentatonic on mandolin · E major blues pentatonic on banjo · E major blues pentatonic on violin · E major blues pentatonic on viola · E major blues pentatonic on cello · E major blues pentatonic on alto sax · E major blues pentatonic on trumpet · E major blues pentatonic on flute · All scales