B♭ minor pentatonic scale (A♯ minor pentatonic)
B♭ minor pentatonic scale is B♭ – D♭ – E♭ – F – A♭, with B♭, D♭, E♭ and A♭. Formula 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7. Play it, then slow the tempo until every note is clear.
The notes, one step at a time
Counted in steps it goes W+H W W W+H W (W = whole step, H = half step, W+H = a step and a half). There are no half steps at all, which is why nothing in it clashes. The wide steps are B♭–D♭ and F–A♭.
| Degree | Note | Interval from B♭ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B♭ | root | |
| ♭3 | D♭ | minor third | |
| 4 | E♭ | perfect fourth | |
| 5 | F | perfect fifth | |
| ♭7 | A♭ | minor seventh |
How the minor pentatonic scale sounds
Bend the 4th up to the 5th, slide into the ♭3, and you have most of the vocabulary of blues-rock soloing in B♭. It's five notes that forgive almost anything.
Two bends define this box: E♭ pushed up a whole step to F, and A♭ pushed up to B♭.
B♭ minor pentatonic scale is B♭ natural minor scale without C and G♭. Hear B♭ natural minor scale and compare.
Playing B♭ minor pentatonic
B♭, D♭, E♭ and A♭ are on black keys; the rest are white.
On guitar the root sits at the 6th fret of the low E string. The box above covers frets 4–10 and holds 12 notes of the scale across all six strings; play it low string to high, two notes per string.
What to play it over
These chords are built only from the scale's notes, so it sits over any of them: B♭m, B♭m7, B♭sus4, C♯, C♯sus2, E♭sus2, A♭sus2, E♭sus4, A♭sus4, C♯6, C♯add9.
If you know B♭ minor pentatonic scale, you already know the notes of D♭ major pentatonic (starting on the 2nd note, D♭).
Finding B♭ minor pentatonic on the neck
The root, B♭, sits at fret 6 on the low E string and 1 and 13 on the A string. Starting frets for the five shapes: 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11. Each shape shares its top notes with the next one up. The first box sits under one hand with two notes per string, the shape most rock and blues solos start from.
On the piano, B♭ minor pentatonic scale uses 4 black keys (B♭, D♭, E♭ and A♭) and 1 white.
Try it in thirds to stop it sounding like an exercise: B♭–E♭, D♭–F, E♭–A♭, F–B♭, A♭–D♭, then back down.
Practice patterns for B♭ minor pentatonic scale
Try these after the plain scale. Tap to hear each pattern at a steady speed, then play along.
- Groups of three: B♭ D♭ E♭ · D♭ E♭ F · E♭ F A♭ · F A♭ B♭.
- Lean on E♭: B♭ E♭ B♭ E♭ B♭: the 4th and ♭7 give the rock and blues sound.
Close relatives of B♭ minor pentatonic scale
Minor pentatonic scale in every key
B♭ minor pentatonic scale: questions
What are the notes of the B♭ minor pentatonic scale?
B♭, D♭, E♭, F and A♭, then B♭ again at the octave. Formula: 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7.
How many sharps or flats are in the B♭ minor pentatonic scale?
Four: B♭, D♭, E♭ and A♭.
What's the difference between B♭ minor pentatonic scale and B♭ natural minor scale?
It leaves out C and G♭.
What chords go with the B♭ minor pentatonic scale?
Any chord built only from its notes, for example B♭m, B♭m7, B♭sus4, C♯, C♯sus2 and E♭sus2.
Generated from the step pattern 3-2-2-3-2 and checked by the site's tests. Updated September 2026.