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Add the blue note, then aim. Both the minor and major blues scales use the same fretboard shape — one chromatic "blue note" tucked into the pentatonic — and it's a passing tone, not a target: a lead-in to the 4th or 5th in minor, or the flat-3-to-natural-3 slide in major. From there you'll map chord-tone targets two ways over a blues in A: matching each dominant chord with its own major pentatonic, or staying in the key's minor pentatonic for all three chords by shifting the I-chord targets up or down a string for the IV and V.
What follows is this lesson’s section of the Course Guide — you can read it here or in the full guide →
Memorize this: There are two blues scales: the minor blues scale, which is what most people think of, and the major blues scale. Conveniently, they both share the exact same fingering patterns, which are simple to visualize by adding one note to the rectangle and stack.
In the minor blues scale, the added note is the #4 or ♭5. In the major blues scale, it is the ♭3. In both scales, the added note is best treated as a passing note. It is rarely emphasized.
To improvise effectively in a blues setting, you will need to keep track of which chord is being played, and you’ll need to find its target notes relative to the scale you have chosen to play.
Memorize this: When playing a major pentatonic (or major blues) scale over a dominant seventh chord with the same root, these are the chord tone targets and recommended bends inside the rectangle and stack:
Memorize this: When playing a minor pentatonic (or minor blues) scale over a dominant seventh chord with the same root, these are the chord tone targets and recommended bends inside the rectangle and stack:
Memorize this: When using the minor pentatonic corresponding to the song’s key over the entire progression, the target notes change depending on the chord:
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