A Bebop Minor Guitar Scale
Guitar scale in Double Drop D tuning — fretboard diagram
A Bebop Minor in Double Drop D — Notes and Intervals
The A Bebop Minor scale is a specialized eight-note scale for minor-key jazz. On Guitar, it contains the notes A, B, C, C#, D, E, F#, G. 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: A, B, C, C#, D, E, F#, G
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: Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)
About Double Drop D Tuning
Double Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) lowers both the 6th and 1st strings from E to D, creating a symmetrical frame of D notes around the standard middle four strings. This gives a distinctly resonant, jangly character that has been beloved in folk-rock and acoustic music since the late 1960s.
Neil Young used Double Drop D extensively — 'Cinnamon Girl' features its distinctive droning riff, and 'The Needle and the Damage Done' showcases its intimate fingerpicking potential. Jimmy Page used it on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'. Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' also employs this tuning. Because only two strings change (both by just one whole step), Double Drop D is one of the easiest alternate tunings to learn — most standard chord shapes on the inner four strings remain unchanged.
Notable artists: Neil Young, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Best for: Folk-rock songwriting, D-centric acoustic arrangements, droning fingerpicking patterns, and any song that benefits from rich D-string resonance on both outer strings
Musical Character
Adds a chromatic note to Dorian, maintaining the rhythmic alignment of chord tones on strong beats in minor-key bebop contexts.
Explore This Scale in Other Tunings
- A Bebop Minor in Standard Tuning
- A Bebop Minor in Drop D
- A Bebop Minor in DADGAD
- A Bebop Minor in Open G
- A Bebop Minor in Baritone (B Standard)
- A Bebop Minor in 7-string
- A Bebop Minor in 8-string
- A Bebop Minor in Drop C
- A Bebop Minor in Drop B
- A Bebop Minor in Open D
- A Bebop Minor in Half Step Down
- A Bebop Minor in Open E
- A Bebop Minor in Open A
- A Bebop Minor in Open C