F# Bebop Minor Guitar Scale
Guitar scale in Baritone (B Standard) tuning — fretboard diagram
F# Bebop Minor in Baritone (B Standard) — Notes and Intervals
The F# Bebop Minor scale is a specialized eight-note scale for minor-key jazz. On Guitar, it contains the notes F#, G#, A, A#, B, C#, D#, E. It adds a chromatic note to the Dorian mode to maintain rhythmic drive and harmonic clarity during fast improvisations over minor seventh chords. Commonly used in Jazz, Bebop, Hard Bop. Notable players include Wes Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon. Use over m7 chords in jazz. The chromatic addition keeps the phrasing rhythmically clean during fast improvisation.
Notes: F#, G#, A, A#, B, C#, D#, E
Intervals: 1P, 2M, 3m, 3M, 4P, 5P, 6M, 7m
Degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 b8
Formula: W-H-H-H-W-W-H-W
Number of notes: 8
Tuning: Baritone (B Standard) (B-E-A-D-F#-B)
About Baritone (B Standard) Tuning
The baritone guitar is tuned a perfect fourth lower than standard guitar (B-E-A-D-F#-B), producing a distinctly beefy tone with serious low-end depth that sits perfectly between guitar and bass. Its rich, dark voice has made it a secret weapon in film scoring, ambient music, and moody songwriting where you need that unmistakable low-end warmth without losing clarity.
Unlike simply tuning a standard guitar down (which causes floppy strings and muddy tone), the baritone guitar uses a longer scale length (typically 27"-30") designed specifically for lower tunings. This gives each note clarity and definition even in the lowest register. Session musicians, film composers, and bedroom producers alike reach for the baritone when they need dark, atmospheric textures, doom-laden riffs, or simply a different sonic palette that standard guitar can't deliver.
Notable artists: Pat Metheny, Nels Cline, Brian Setzer, Baritone session players in Nashville
Best for: Moody songwriting, film scoring, ambient textures, doom metal, and any production that needs low-end depth with clarity
Musical Character
Adds a chromatic note to Dorian, maintaining the rhythmic alignment of chord tones on strong beats in minor-key bebop contexts.