Montunoman, we will start here and build.
I have written many papers on this subject; you will find it exciting.
John C.
Let’s bass the study in the key of C major. We will use roman numbers for the steps of the scale.
C D E F G A B C
I II III IV V VI VII VIII
A basic Blues scale uses the C F G
CHORDS I IV V
MAJOR SCALE C D E F G A B C
BLUES SCALE C Eb F G Bb C
What is a blues note? It is a note which makes you uncomfortable, and when you get off it we go aaaaah.
Example: C chord being played C E G Blues note is Eb – it is against the harmony we understand.
C Minor chord: C Eb G
We are playing Minor against Major.
Blues chord progression:
C C C C F F C C
I I I I IV IV I I
G F C C
V IV I I
Chords in the key of G major are
G C D I IV V of the Major scale.
Enough for the first step.
John C.
PS, keep in mind that jazz is played --- Chord and single notes againct that chord. Change the chord and the impro notes must change.
Thank you John for sharing your knowledge. I'll add two other blues scales:
[/b]
Major Blues Scale 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, 6 ( like a major pentatonic with a b3, which resolves the major 3rd.
[b]Minor Blues Scale 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7 ( like a minor pentatonic with an added b5 or #4)
A good jazz/blues player knows how to weave in and out of these scales and even add more tones outside of the scale. Look at Charlie Parker's "Billies Bounce" for example.
A simplified explanation which has helped me, is to use the major blues scale on the " I" chord and minor blues scale on the IV chord. The V chord has lots of options but I tend to favor the minor.
A jazz/blues will have all sorts of turn around changes like
iii /VI on bar bar 8 or iii, VI , ii V on bar 11 and 12. the iii chord can be half diminished and the VI chord altered dominant ( #9 or b9, #5 or b5) which all contain notes from the minor blues scale.
For years I mainly used the minor blues over the whole 12 bar cycle but I am enjoying expanding beyond that.
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