Question on Scales

I have taken music lessons before, and from what I learned is major scales are whole-whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole etc, so how do you read 1,b3,4,b5,5,b7 like in the pentatonic blues scales, that would mean in a E scale it would be, E,Gb,A,Bb,B,Db? But thats not what is listed, anyone have help reading the 1,b3,4,b5,5,b7 in the blues pentatonic?

actually your slightly off in your own calclations. Your b3 is actually G not Gb and your flat 7th you read as diminished your minor 7th is actually D. The formula is correct.

Hi 2palms,

Here's my '2cents' on your dilemma...

I had a really good guitar teacher years ago who impressed on me the importance of memorizing your major scale spellings. So I did and I am so happy that I did! It is a little work and effort on your part, but it pays off in the long run. To not memorize them is like a wannabe mathematician who didn't bother memorizing his multiplication tables! anyway...

Here are the spellings for your major scales. Repeat them over & over. Choose just 1 a day to master and sooner then you think, you'll have them all 'down cold'! -

I've listed & grouped these spellings in what I believe is a good order for memorization...

key spelling
C C D E F G A B C (NO #s OR bs)

(sharp keys:)
key spelling
G G A B C D E F#G (1 SHARP - F)
D D E F#G A B C#D (2 #s - F,C)
A A B C#D E F#G#A (3 #s - F,C,G)
E E F#G#A B C#D#E (4 #s - F,C,G,D)
B B C#D#E F#G#A#B (5 #s - F,C,G,D,A)
F# F#G#A#B C#D#E#F#(6 #s - F,C,G,D,A,E,B)
C# C#D#E#F#G#A#B#C# (ALL NOTES ARE #...)

(flat keys:)
key spelling
F F G A BbC D E F (1 FLAT - B)
Bb BbC D EbF G A Bb (2 b's - B,E)
Eb EbF G AbBbC D Eb (3 b's - B,E,A)
Ab AbBbC DbEbF G Ab (4 b's - B,E,A,D)
Db DbEbF GbAbBbC Db (5 b's - B,E,A,D,G)
Gb GbAbBbCbDbEbF Gb (6 b's - B,E,A,D,G,C)
Cb CbDbEbFbGbAbBbCb (ALL NOTES ARE b...)

and there they are!...

Observations for memorization:
'C' is ALL or NOTHING...+
'G' has 1 # which is F; 'Gb' has all notes flatted EXCEPT for F...
Sharp keys do not contain flats; Flat keys do not contain sharps...

I have more observations then I have time to write them, so look for your own...

1 last thing, choose a 'scale spelling of the day' and recite it out loud, over & over, until you just know it!!! (not that tough!...)Have fun.

Good luck!

Thanks gtrguru, your posts are alot of help.