#1
|
|||
|
|||
Is there a Blues Scale?
If so, what are the notes?
(For a reference, use the key of C.) |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
__________________
Go for the Tone, George |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Ah, thanks for teaching me how to use Google.
But the first reference, wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_scale gives three different versions right off the bat. I was asking for your opinion . . . what say ye? |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
1-b3-4-#4-5-b7-1
__________________
Go for the Tone, George |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
I've most often heard the term "Blues Scale" to refer to a minor pentatonic with an added flattened fifth - so C Eb F Gb G Bb C in the key of C - but lots of different scales are used in actual blues music...
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
No 2(D), major 3(E) or 6(A)?
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
Correlation does not imply causation. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Everything else is a passing tone.
Do NOT sit on the 6 - people will laugh and point at you.
__________________
Go for the Tone, George |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Not in the scale most people call the "Blues Scale", which again is by no means the only scale used to play blues.
|
#10
|
|||
|
|||
"Most" people?
So this is not an empirical fact, it is a popularity contest? All the cool kids making fun of you if you sit with 6. If you play with 2, does that mean you're Latin lover? If you are friends with Auggie 5, must you ride a a flying carpet? |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
It is also a fact that there exists more than one scale that is appropriate to play in the context of the blues. No popularity contest there either.
__________________
Go for the Tone, George |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Did you read the wiki page, evidentally there is some "non-uniformity" out there . . .
|
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
If you really care to learn some theory, check out David Baker... If you are just trying to stir it up, have a nice day.
__________________
Go for the Tone, George |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I don't consider it empirical fact - it is just a term that I doubt most of the original blues players would have accepted. They didn't seem to have a need for all of the disection modern players want to do to blues. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
It really depends...
If you listen to the old blues guys you will not hear any definitive scale that they all used. Robert Johnson used a different scale than Big Bill Broonzy, who used a different scale than Blind Lemon Jefferson....you get the idea. And this was a distinction based on their style, tuning preference & musical leanings (country blues, piedmont blues, kansas city blues, texas blues, chicago blues). You can relate most of these guys back to the pentatonic scales or some slight variation of them. The beauty of the pentatonic scales is that it removes the half-step notes (the 4 & 7 in major, the 2 & b6 in minor), which are the hardest to place in a lead. Of course, this also means they lack some sophistication - which is why you hear more variations on the pentatonic than pure pentatonic (except in the vocal melodies which tend to be very pentatonic based). What there is consensus on is the "blue notes", that is the b3 & b7 used in conjunction with their naturally occurring counterparts in chords. That is, using the b3 & b7 on a major chord for that dissonance and to blur the lines between major/minor and major7/dominant7. Playing minor pentatonic over a major key gets you this. The #4 comes more from the jazz vein - which has it's roots in blues, ragtime & dixieland. adding a #4 to a major scale makes it a Bebop Major (1 2 3 4 #4 5 6 7), carrying that through the modes gets you nice scales like Bebop Dominant (1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 7) & Bebop Minor (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 6 b7). These are very popular in the jazz world (as you might guess form their names). You can get away with just about anything in the blues. Heck, Chuck Berry played major scales with the b3 & b7 for flavor, but was very scalar otherwise. He was not afraid to sit on a 2 (particularly over a V chord) or a 6 (over a IV chord). 1 2 b3 3 4 #4 5 b6 6 b7 7 - are all fair game, just depends on the flavor you're after. HTH.
__________________
-Steve 1927 Martin 00-21 1986 Fender Strat 1987 Ibanez RG560 1988 Fender Fretless J Bass 1991 Washburn HB-35s 1995 Taylor 812ce 1996 Taylor 510c (custom) 1996 Taylor 422-R (Limited Edition) 1997 Taylor 810-WMB (Limited Edition) 1998 Taylor 912c (Custom) 2019 Fender Tele |