MelodicAdvanced
Passing flat five
Three frets, three fingers: the note that names the blues scale, never a target.
Notation
1♭345♭7
e
B
G
D
A
E
1
2
3
4
7
8
9
target
6 strings · A blues · box 1scroll the tab →
Degrees involved4 – ♭5 – 5
The gestureThree consecutive frets, three fingers. No articulation, just speed.
Target noteThe fifth. The ♭5 is never a target -- that's the very definition of a passing note: it exists only because you pass through it.
Over which chordAnywhere in the progression; it's the note that gives the blues scale its name.
The rhythmSixteenths or fast triplets, with the ♭5 on a weak subdivision. If it lands on a strong beat, it's stopped being a passing note.
Common mistakeStopping on it: held, or placed on the beat, the ♭5 doesn't sound bluesy -- it sounds wrong. And at that point, it is.