Which scale is described by the degrees 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, 1?

• A. Blues Scale
• B. Major Scale
• C. Jazz Scale
• D. Natural Minor Scale

Answer: (C)

The degrees describe a bluesy, jazz-inflected sound built from a few specific interval tweaks to the major scale. The pattern 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, 1 means you start on the root, drop the third by a semitone, keep the fourth, insert a blue note between the fourth and fifth (lowered fifth), then move to the fifth, drop the seventh by a semitone, and return to the octave. In C this yields C, Eb, F, Gb, G, Bb, C. That exact collection—root, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, and back to root—defines the blues scale, whose sound is a cornerstone of jazz improvisation. In many teaching contexts this material is labeled as a Jazz Scale because of its prominent use in jazz, even though the same notes are often described more specifically as the blues scale. The major scale would include natural 3 and 7 (no b3 or b7); the natural minor would include a b3 but also different degrees like a b6 and lacks the exact b5 tension shown here.