LESSON 10.

BLUES PRACTICE & BLUES SCALES.

10.1 Melody.
The blues scale.
If we can reasonably relate any data or available material to a specific, identifiable group we
impart a MEANINGFULNESS to the selection. Scientists like Aristotle and Linneaus based their
work on classifying observation data into categories to establish patterns which helped
understanding and meaning.
When a collection of musical pitches have some reasonable ASSOCIATIVE value, we describe
such a pattern as a SCALE. The selected pitches of a scale have a 'meaning' because they
result in a CHARACTERISTIC SOUND which we can RECOGNISE.
In lesson 1 we identified the major scale and the chords that can be built from it as the
foundation of our traditional sense of tonality. The first eight lessons were confined to the major
scale and this familiar tonality. Tonal music dominated western classical music from around
1650 to 1900, and still remains the most important musical tradition. Prior to1650 'modes' other
than the major and minor scales were common, see lesson 1.1, and the functional harmony
built on the chords of the major scale was absent, see lesson 7.2. After 1900 atonality became
common in what is still called 'classical' music and the traditional tonal centre tended to be
avoided as composers experimented with sequences of notes where no one note was
dominant.
In the last lesson we introduced another scale, the pentatonic scale, which is significant in folk
music because of its SIMPLICITY and FLEXIBILITY to sound right in many different musical
environments.
In this lesson we introduce the BLUES SCALE.
The blues scale has its roots in the African / American music dating back to the days of slavery,
it is probably the result of Negro adaptation of the pentatonic scale, it consists of the pentatonic
with 2 added notes. The added notes are
The minor or BLUE 3rd
The minor or BLUE 7th
Ex.1. shows the scale on C, F and G.
The third degree of this scale, which is the flat third of the minor scale, is called a blue note. In
vocal music, it is often sung somewhere between an Eb and an E. In instrumental music,
various techniques are employed to achieve the same effect, such as stretching the string while
playing an Eb on a stringed instrument, lipping down an E on a wind instrument, or striking
both the Eb and E simultaneously on a keyboard instrument.
The flatted seventh is also a blue note, and in the same way is not always sung or played
exactly on the notated pitch.
Variations on the blues scale that exclude the natural third, sixth and ninth, but include a flat
fifth, and the fourth can be used as well. In fact the flat 5th has now become established as a
3rd blue note. Note that if the flatted fifth is omitted from this variation, the resultant scale is the
minor pentatonic scale. See 10.4 below. The minor pentatonic scale is often used as a
substitute for the blues scale, and vice versa. See lesson 11.
These blues scales are the basis of vast quantities of modern musical material, the form and
sound is readily recognisable and used extensively in jazz and popular music
IT IS VITAL FOR ANYONE WHO WISHES TO IMPROVISE IN THE BLUES IDIOM
TO HAVE THESE BLUES SCALES AT THEIR FINGER TIPS.
The original scale on C, F and G from Ex.1 should be transposed to all other tonics, or at least
those which are in most common use.
Aural recognition of the CHARACTERISTIC SOUND of the scale can be developed by the
practice and memorising of the patterns in Ex.2 to 5.
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Unessential notes can be added, but, once again remember that indiscriminate use will
DESTROY THE DESIRED EFFECT. However, various tricks and grace notes are common. See
Ex.4.
Although individual style will develop through the use of certain clichs and preferred best
licks, the blues feeling is a general effect recognised immediately when the blues scale is
played with the blues progression in the jazz rhythmic idiom. Refer back to 9.1 and 9.3.
The key point is worth repeating if the blues scale is used with rhythmic patterns which are
typical of the jazz idiom and with typical blues progressions, see 10.2 below,
THE BLUES FEELING WILL AUTOMATICALLY EMERGE.
The advice on sticking to the notes of the chosen scale is important in relation to all scalic
material that will be presented in this course. Remember that the SELECTIONS have been
made to bring out certain definite CHARACTERISTIC SOUNDS. Disregarding the specific note
selection must defeat the original purpose!! Remember simplicity and lessons 4.3 and 7.3.
Many musicians, through constant listening, have been able to make these note selections by
ear at the subconscious level. Generally, however, this method is not as efficient as conscious
study and technical knowledge, see 4.6, and progress will be unnecessarily slow and painful!
10.2 Harmony.
The importance of the blues 7th chord.
The term blues is a somewhat overused word, describing a general style of music with a more
specific category of chord progressions, as well as its colloquial meaning of a particular mood,
as in the phrase I've got the blues.
The blues as a STYLE has a rich history that was alluded to in lesson 7.6 and the jazz
tradition. The basic twelve bar blues form has been mentioned several times previously
because, in its original form it is still played very frequently in traditional jazz, rock and R & B
music. In the basic form only three chords are used: the I chord, the IV chord, and the V7
chord, see the last lesson 9.1.
While the blues progression can be played in any key, the most popular keys among jazz
musicians seem to be F, Bb, and Eb, whereas rock musicians often prefer E, A, D, or G. This
has a lot to do with the way instruments are tuned. Popular jazz instruments such as the
trumpet, clarinet and the various members of the saxophone family are usually tuned in Bb or
Eb This means that the notated C played for these instruments actually SOUNDS a Bb or Eb
on the piano or 'concert' instruments. The EASIEST FINGERINGS for these instruments
favours playing in that particular instruments key of C, which actually sounds Bb or Eb,
depending on the design tuning. Guitars tend to dominate rock music, and guitars are tuned to
favour the keys containing sharps. That is the easiest fingerings are for notes of the sharp
keys. Music written for these instruments is therefore transposed.
Dont let this transposing issue confuse you, all instruments must SOUND identical notes
when played. Your ear will tell you that the notes are the same. It just so happens that, for
example, when a trumpet is manufactured the open no valves note is a Bb concert on the
piano.
Over the years the basic three chords of the blues progression have been modified to add
interest and variety. See 10.2 below.
An initial important modification to the progression is often heard when ALL the chords are
played as dominant SEVENTH chords, although they are not actually FUNCTIONING as
dominant chords in that they do not resolve onto a tonic. Neither do they resolve onto the next
7th of the circle of 5ths, they are not functioning as the forward urge chords that we studied in
lessons 1 to 8. These pseudo dominant 7ths are unusual in other musical styles but in the
blues and banjo music they are common.
We can speculate on the origins of the popularity of 7th chords in jazz. Maybe the old banjo
players preferred a different 4th note instead of a repeated note with their 4 string chords.
Perhaps they found the7th chord fingering familiar and could easily be moved up and down the
fretboard producing an agreeable sounds when blue notes were being played. The 7th chords
fit nicely and sound interesting with the blues because the C7 includes the blue 7th and the F7

includes the blue 3rd. In this way these SCALE notes become part of the chord if we play 7ths.
Remember the SCALE dominates in the blues, the harmony fits but it is not the vehicle for
improvisation.
Thus, the 7th chord in the blues harmony has a completely different meaning than the 7ths we
discussed in our earlier studies In the blues it simply introduces one of the scale notes into the
accompaniment. Make sure you understand this distinction because otherwise it will confuse
you when you are studying sequences; it is no use looking for resolutions of 7th chords in the
blues they are not there! The F7 in the blues moves to C7 NOT Bb!!
The G7 is, of course, the regular dominant 7th and serves a different, now familiar, purpose that of encouraging the resolution back to the tonic.
Thus we can suggest a new harmonic rule for the BLUES idioms, particularly the 12 bar blues,
where the 7th can be added to the major chords on 1 and 4.
See Ex. 6 to 8 which show the blues scale co-ordinated with the12 bar blues harmonic pattern.
As a jazz improviser who is interested in BLUES idioms you should practice on the 12 bar blues
pattern until all the components have become PRACTICALLY SUBCONSCIOUS. This involves
the following 'know how' and practical routines
knowledge of and time feeling for the various rhythmic bar patterns given in the course,
together with experience in building these into 2 bar and 4 bar phrases, as outlined in
lesson 4.4
fluency in the technical processes of handling the blues scale on your particular
instrument, and in transposing it
experience in feeling trajectories in the manner pointed out in lesson 9.3
feeling for the length of time occupied by each chord, that is the harmonic rhythm of the
blues, and, consequently, the point of phrase / chord change.
Note that in the same way as the pentatonic scale we studied in the last lesson THE BLUES
SCALE CAN BE PLAYED OVER THE ENTIRE PROGRESSION all the notes 'fit' the chords
10.3 Chord progressions.
Blues variations.
Even with the introduction of 7th chords you may feel that playing the blues scale over the
basic three chord blues progression in a jazz setting can get tired and old quite quickly? Never
mind! One of the beauties of the blues vehicle is its FLEXIBILITY. The only time you will get
bored with the blues is if your creativity or instrumental ability is not progressing, otherwise
there are infinite possibilities.
To introduce variety the basic chord progression can be altered or enhanced in many ways.
As we noted above playing the 7th chords is the first way of adding interest and variety; so for a
start try playing YOUR OWN blues scale improvisations with the progression from Ex.6 and 7
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
F7 / / /
F7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
G7 / / /
G7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /.
The 12 bar blues harmonic pattern can be considerably expanded and developed adding
further interest and variety in all sorts of ways WITHOUT LOSING ITS ESSENTIAL
CHARACTER. Many of the possibilities will be dealt with later when we cover the various
methods of reharmonisation, but in the meantime, the following pattern, which uses some of the
early variations mentioned in 9.1, can be worked on
C7 / / /
F7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
F7 / / /
Fm7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
G7 / / /
F7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
The big change in the 9th bar and the lesser one in the 5th are still retained and the harmony is
still 'enhanced with 7th chords, but a move to the subdominant has been made early in the 2nd
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bar. The move to the minor in bar 6 is often seen as is the dominant resolving through the
subdominant in the10th bar giving a nice plagal resolution. This is a very common variation.
Starting around the swing era, and almost continually since then, musicians have further
developed the blues progression, for example
C7 / / /
F7 / / /
C7 / / /
C7 / / /
F7 / / /
Cm7 / F7 / C7 / / /
A7 / / /
Dm7 / / /
G7 / / /
C7 / / /
G7 / / /.
Here we have a MIX of blues progression and the circle of 5ths, including some more of the
standard dominant 7th type resolutions. This common adaptation of the progression, is still
considered the standard for jazz jam sessions.
Another possibility
C7 / / /
F7 / Bb7 /
C7 / Gm7 / C7 / / /
F7 / / /
Fm7 / / /
Em7 / / /
A7 / / /
Dm7 / / /
G7 / / /
C7 / / /
G7 / / /.
The idea of adding II - V - Is to the blues progression can yield many more variations. The
possibilities are endless but the CHARACTER of the blues remains.
We should note that these enhancements of the blues progression are based on the familiar
principles of chord SUBSTITUTION and chord MOVEMENT.
We should also note that the SUBDOMINANT 7TH IN BAR 5 REMAINS in all these examples;
this is invariably the case as the move to the subdominant is the essence of the blues, giving it
one of the peculiar characteristics that other songs dont have. Remember the usual
characteristic of non blues songs is to move to the sharp side of the circle of 5ths..
It is appropriate at this stage if we introduce the idea of a TURNAROUND. At the end of a song
section it is interesting if the forward momentum of the song is enhance by more emphatically
finishing the previous section and launching into the new section. We saw how this was
commonly done with the imperfect cadence in lesson 2. Turnarounds build on this idea in
various ways by leading into the new section through the familiar II - V - I circle.
Thus in bars 7 & 8 and 11 & 12 of the blues and 7 & 8 and 15 & 16 and 31 & 32 of the 32 bar
song we often see turnarounds.
10.4 Co-ordination.
Think scales.
Our co-ordination work must now take on a different aspect as we are primarily playing
improvised trajectories using SCALE notes not chord notes. We must THINK SCALES.
Lets recap on the scales we have studied
Major
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
Pentatonic
C
D
E
G
A
C
Blues
C
D
Eb
E
G
A
Bb
C
The pentatonic and blues scales can be mixed in one continuity. Sections of one can be
followed by sections of the other.
Two other scales are useful for the blues improviser; the minor pentatonic (or Eb major
pentatonic), and the Eb blues. We will say much more about these two scales in the next
lesson
Minor pentatonic
C
Eb
F
G
Bb
C
Eb pentatonic
Eb
F
G
Bb
C
Eb blues
(Db) Eb
F
Gb
G
Bb
C
Experiment and practice these scales with a blues progression. Try and feel comfortable with
the same scale over a moving chord sequence. Listen to the sound and how the characteristic
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'bluesy' feeling results? Remember keep it simple, the blues in particular is about feeling and
emotion and interpretation
10.5 Rhythm.
Setting up the ground beat.
The more we listen to jazz, the more we understand jazz, the more convinced we are that the
swinging jazz performance is about SETTING UP rhythmic counterpoint. Rhythmic lines are
played AGAINST one another. In the case of a solo this is the soloist against the rhythm
section, in the case of ensembles other melody instruments are involved as well.
The FIRST essential is for the rhythm section to set up a constant four to the bar ground beat.
Predominantly this is the job of the drummer but the bass player and banjo / guitar players have
helpful roles to play as well. Bands need TIME KEEPERS and a REFERENCE BEATS.
In lesson 5 we gave some examples of the drummers ride rhythms and we now need to
elaborate. The drummer initially has the job of developing a largely UNDIFFERENTIATED four
to the bar beat, this is usually done on the ride cymbal. The syncopated effects stressing the
2nd and 4th beats usually come from the front line instruments. If the drummer also accented
the off beats the sound would be discontinuous and a produce a two beat feel. Of course,
there are times when specific off beat effects are needed from the drummer, but his first job is to
develop an even four to the bar.
Please note that we are emphasising the initial role of drumming. Drumming technique can
develop into very sophisticated rhythms, but our purpose here is not instrument specific and we
do want to stress the importance of a four to the bar explicit or implicit ground beat as a
prerequisite for swing.
Nevertheless the ride cymbal expresses a RHYTHMIC LINE rather than a series of one note at
a time, four bangs to the bar. The line is altered with ghost note nuances which are designed
to impart FORWARD MOMENTUM to the line, see Ex.9 for a typical 4 / 4 ground beat on the
high hat. Tap this rhythm out and feel how in this case an 8th note gap can produce a dynamic
forward urge which tends to give meaning to the conventional 1st and 3rd beats and the
syncopated of beats on 2 and 4. These rhythms have to be subtly played.
Now it is also common to vary this 'embellishment' approach to four to the bar by, for example,
using the bass drum on the 1st beat of the bar and, perhaps, the snare on the 2nd, see Ex.10.
However, the TYRANNY OF THE DOWN BEAT must be minimised and the line must be
INFECTIOUS and INSPIRING as well as identifying for the other players exactly where they
are in the bar. The band must be able to feel the steady beat even if they cant hear it, the
drummer has an awesome responsibility!
Although the modern trend is to use the ride cymbal for the basic beat, the snare drum with
brushes or sticks can also used for this purpose, as can wood blocks. Variety and
experimentation is again important.
Once the fundamental groundbeat has been established the drummer is free, as are all the
members of the band, to add APPROPRIATE superimposed rhythms, interjections, fills and
'press rolls using the snare drum, the bass drum, tom toms, cow bells, crash cymbals etc.
etc.....
Extra subtleties, weights and variety can be added to these lines in all sorts of different ways,
for example
the foot operated high hat can be employed to produce the off beat claps which are
typical of jazz; think of these as a counterbalance to the subtle emphasis of the
conventional downbeats re-establishing smoothness and resulting in an undifferentiated
four beat flow
timings can be doubled or halved without effecting the basic beat
importantly the drummer will always signal to the rest of the group the start of each four
bar section, each solo, each change of texture and dynamic, and finally the ending remember these signals must be played before the rest of the band start the relevant
part of the song
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 a good way to think of interjections and fills is as conversational comments; supportive in

sympathy with the mood of the song and not interruptions
omissions can be just as effective as interjections
ride patterns can be played on the high hat with alternate beats differentiated by opening
and closing the hat
All these devices should be thought of as a separate lines played against the bedrock four
four on the ride. Again it is important to emphasise the concept of LINE, it is a meaningful
word, discontinuities should be avoided, the patterns must have a continuous forward drive.
We must stress again that these comments are the essential basics of the drummers job but his
skill is in adding interest, variety and inspiration to his lines while still delivering
a basic four to the bar ground beat either felt or heard
signals for the important bar beats and the important four bar sections
It is the sacred duty of the drummer to help to make sure that the rest of the band know where
they are at all times!!
10.6 Characteristic timbre.
Dirty blues.
Rhythm, melody, harmony and form are aspects of music which we have covered quite
extensively in this course but there is a 5th component which we have not discussed at length
which is texture.
Texture or timbre or tone colour or 'quality' is an important aspect of music. Instrumentalists
are constantly searching for a good quality of tone. A good or bad tone is, of course, highly
subjective but we can all easily recognise tone differences. These differences result from the
particular SPECTRUM of sound frequencies produced when a specific pitch is targeted. The
distinguishing feature of the same pitch played on a trumpet or on a clarinet is the different
overtone frequencies of the particular instrument concerned. Vibrating strings and columns of
air have been long established tone generators and are liked because of their peculiar
characteristic of producing harmonics as well as the fundamental pitch. It is the harmonics and
the specific method of producing the vibrations which give the tone its peculiar quality. These
frequencies VARY depending on the type of instrument and the WAY IT IS PLAYED. The
production of harmonics and tone is not fixed but can be MANIPULATED by the player.
There are many ways of ARTIFICIALLY modifying the timbre of a pitch to add interest and
variety. For example the forcefulness of the attack and release, the extent of the control over
the vibration production, the way a vibrato is produced, the speed and method of moving from
one note to the next, the acoustics of the immediate resonance environment either the player
himself or the room he is in and finally the immediate acoustics can be modified by a host of
mutes and echo chambers and more recently by electrical amplification and modification.
In addition to the choice of pitch and scale, jazz musicians have always searched for
ORIGINALITY through the quality or colour of the pitches they produce. This is particularly
true of the blues idiom where TIMBRE is an important variable for brass and reed players. It is
another means of creating an individual style, another string to your bow.
In jazz, timbre is more than colour added to tones by vibrato, glissando, sforzando, trill or
legato or staccato attack, it is synonymous with growls, scoops, bends, shakes, smears,
whines, moans, flares, falls, pushes, oinks,..........
Brass players employ a wide variety of mutes, cups, hats and plungers to generate various
characteristic sounds. Other instrumentalist can be equally inventive in their search for an
original sound.
The adjectives used to describe jazz sounds have immense variety light, cutting, runny,
brassy, pinched, bright, fuzzy, thin, fluid, deep, nasal, piercing, full, clear, smooth, raspy,
muffled, round, jagged, sharp, hard, throaty, breathy, broad, silky, biting, sweet, blunt, watery,
cool, tinny, harsh, airy, sour, lush, velvety, lyrical, gravely, bell like ...... the aim is to inject
originality into the music.
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The blues have traditionally been a focus of timbral variety. The blues have always been played
dirty!
10.7 Written Work.
a) Using the harmonic progression at the end of 10.2 produce 24 bars of blues material
in the key of C.
b) Build a similar type of exercise in the key of Eb.
NB. We now move on to the last lesson in part 1 of the course and study a particularly potent
way of creating a blues effect.
John p birchall
website = http//:www.themeister.co.uk