G Blues — 5-String Banjo

G Blues is 6 notes to the octave (blues family), drawn here across the 5-String Banjo's gDGBD strings with every G marked, so home stays visible from anywhere in the pattern.

The minor pentatonic with a b5 "blue note" wedged in — that one extra note adds grit, tension, and a sly, vocal quality. Tough, expressive, and unmistakably bluesy.

Heard in: Blues, rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, and boogie-woogie — Delta and Chicago blues, Hendrix, Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

A scale here always has to negotiate with the short g: it is one fixed pitch that belongs to some keys and argues with others, so these maps mark where it falls inside the pattern instead of hiding it.

Learn it as melody first and picking pattern second: get the notes under the left hand, then work out which right-hand fingers reach them without breaking the pulse. That second question is the one that takes the time.