B♭ major scale on 5-string bass

B♭ · C · D · E♭ · F · G · A

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 15 · One position.

The notes

  1. B♭1
  2. C2
  3. D3
  4. E♭4
  5. F5
  6. G6
  7. A7

The B♭ major scale is B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, A.

You may also see it called Ionian.

On the staff

B♭CDE♭FGAB♭

On a bass staff, the B♭ major scale is written B♭ C D E♭ F G A.

This is one octave of the B♭ major scale, written on the bass clef. Guitar and bass music is written an octave higher than it sounds, and the small 8 under the clef is the sign for that.

Why the B♭ major scale has these flats

  1. B♭1
  2. T
  3. C2
  4. T
  5. D3
  6. S
  7. E♭4
  8. T
  9. F5
  10. T
  11. G6
  12. T
  13. A7
  14. S
  15. B♭8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is T T S T T T S: a tone, a tone, a semitone, and so on. S stands for a semitone, the distance of one fret or one key. T stands for a tone, which is two semitones. The pattern is what gives B♭ major its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.

The second rule is that a seven-note scale uses each letter name once, from A to G, so its seven notes take seven different letters. That is why B♭ major is spelled the way it is, rather than with whichever accidental looks tidier.

Together, the two rules leave no room for choice. If you walk the pattern up from B♭, one letter cannot keep up:

  • E♭ — the fourth. The pattern needs a semitone from D, but D to E is only a tone, so E has to fall to E♭.

That accidental was not a choice. Once you pick the note to start on, the pattern decides the rest, and a key signature is a record of the result.

The B♭ major scale is written with B♭ and E♭. B♭ has its accidental because that is the key, and the other note needs one because the T T S T T T S pattern of steps cannot be spelled from B♭ with plain letters.

The pattern of steps is the part of a scale that never changes. The letter names take sharps or flats to fit that pattern, and a key signature is a record of those sharps or flats.

On the piano

2C3DE5F6G7AB2C3DE5F6G7AB2C3DE5F6G7AB2C3DE5F6G7AB2CC♯4E♭F♯G♯1B♭C♯4E♭F♯G♯1B♭C♯4E♭F♯G♯1B♭C♯4E♭F♯G♯1B♭C0C1C2C3C4

The keyboard shows the same seven notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the B♭ major scale, and you can click any key to hear it.

B♭ major scale on the whole neck

BEADG123456789101112131415C2D3E♭4F5G6A7B♭1C2D3F5G6A7B♭1C2D3E♭4F5G6A7B♭1C2D3E♭4F5G6A7B♭1C2D3E♭4F5G6A7B♭1C2D3E♭4F5G6A7B♭1C2D3E♭4F5G6A7B♭1

63 notes of the B♭ major scale are marked across five strings.

This is every place the notes of the B♭ major scale fall on the 5-string bass, with each note's name and its scale degree. The roots are marked so you can find your bearings.

Position by position

Position 1 — starts on the 2
BEADG123456234567123456712
Position 2 — starts on the 3
BEADG345678345671234567123
Position 3 — starts on the 4
BEADG456789456712345671234
Position 4 — starts on the 5
BEADG67891011567123456712345
Position 5 — starts on the 6
BEADG8910111213671234567123456
Position 6 — starts on the 7
BEADG101112131415712345671234567
Position 7 — starts on the 1
BEADG111213141516123456712345671

The B♭ major scale has seven playable positions, at frets 1–5, 3–7, 4–8, 6–10, 8–12, 10–14 and 11–15.

Each shape starts on a different degree of the scale and fits inside five frets, so your hand can play all of it without moving.

One climb up the neck

BEADG111213141516123456712345671TAB111315111315121315121315121415

The climb runs from fret 11 to fret 15 and plays fifteen notes.

This is one path from the lowest root to the top of the neck, and it plays each note once, never on two strings. It takes three notes on every string. The widest stretch on any one string is four frets.