Blues scale

Last updated

The term blues scale refers to several different scales with differing numbers of pitches and related characteristics. A blues scale is often formed by the addition of an out-of-key "blue note" to an existing scale, notably the flat fifth addition to the minor pentatonic scale. However, the heptatonic blues scale can be considered a major scale with altered intervals.

Contents

Types

Hexatonic

The hexatonic, or six-note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus the ♭5th degree of the original heptatonic scale. [1] [2] [3] This added note can be spelled as either a ♭5 or a ♯4.

The first known published version of the blues scale, from Aebersold's revised 1970 Volume 1: How to Play Jazz and Improvise Blues Scale as first published by Jamey Aebersold.jpeg
The first known published version of the blues scale, from Aebersold's revised 1970 Volume 1: How to Play Jazz and Improvise
Chromatic circle diagrams of the Hexatonic, Heptatonic, and Nonatonic blues scales. Blues chromatic circle diagrams.jpg
Chromatic circle diagrams of the Hexatonic, Heptatonic, and Nonatonic blues scales.

The first known published instance of this scale is Jamey Aebersold's How to Play Jazz and Improvise Volume 1 (1970 revision, p. 26), and Jerry Coker claims that David Baker may have been the first educator to organise this particular collection of notes pedagogically as a scale to be taught in helping beginners evoke the sound of the blues. [4]

Blues scale

A major feature of the blues scale is the use of blue notes—notes that are played or sung microtonally, at a slightly higher or lower pitch than standard. [5] However, since blue notes are considered alternative inflections, a blues scale may be considered to not fit the traditional definition of a scale. [6] At its most basic, a single version of this blues scale is commonly used over all changes (or chords) in a twelve-bar blues progression. [7] Likewise, in contemporary jazz theory, its use is commonly based upon the key rather than the individual chord. [2]

Greenblatt defines two blues scales, the major and the minor. The major blues scale is 1, 2,♭3, 3, 5, 6 and the minor is 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7. [8] The latter is the same as the hexatonic scale described above.

In the Movable do solfège, the hexatonic major blues scale is solmized as "do-re-me-mi-sol-la"; In the La-based minor movable do solfège, the hexatonic minor blues scale is solmized as "la-do-re-me-mi-sol".

Heptatonic

One heptatonic, or seven-note, conception of the blues scale is as a diatonic scale (a major scale) with lowered third, fifth, and seventh degrees, [9] which is equivalent to the dorian ♭5 scale, the second mode of the harmonic major scale. Blues practice is derived from the "conjunction of 'African scales' and the diatonic western scales". [10]

Blues scale

Steven Smith argues that, "to assign blue notes to a 'blues scale' is a momentous mistake, then, after all, unless we alter the meaning of 'scale'".[ further explanation needed ] [11]

Nonatonic

An essentially nine-note blues scale is defined by Benward and Saker as a chromatic variation of the major scale featuring a flat third and seventh degrees (in effect substitutions from Dorian mode) which, "alternating with the normal third and seventh scale degrees are used to create the blues inflection. These 'blue notes' represent the influence of African scales on this music." [12]

Blues scale

A different and non-formal way of playing the scale is by the use of quarter tones, added to the 3rd and 7th degrees of the minor blues scale. For example, the A minor blues scale with quarter tones is A–B–C Arabic music notation half sharp.svg –D–E–F–G Arabic music notation half sharp.svg , where Arabic music notation half sharp.svg is a half sharp. Also, the note D♯ can be used as an additional note. Guitar players can raise a given note by a quarter tone through bending.

Usage

Hit songs in a blues key include, "Rock Me"..., "Jumpin' Jack Flash"..., "Higher Ground"..., "Purple Haze"..., "I Can See for Miles"..., "After Midnight"..., "She's a Woman"..., "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress"..., "Pink Cadillac"..., "Give Me One Reason"..., and many others. [13]

In jazz, the blues scale is used by improvising musicians in a variety of harmonic contexts. It can be played for the entire duration of a twelve bar blues progression constructed off the root of the first dominant seventh chord. For example, a C hexatonic blues scale could be used to improvise a solo over a C blues chord progression. The blues scale can also be used to improvise over a minor chord. Jazz educator Jamey Aebersold describes the sound and feel of the blues scale as "funky," "down-home," "earthy," or "bluesy." [14] [ page needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

The twelve-bar blues is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the I, IV, and V chords of a key. Mastery of the blues and rhythm changes are "critical elements for building a jazz repertoire".

In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by decreasing pitch is a descending scale.

In music theory, a leading-tone is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. Typically, the leading tone refers to the seventh scale degree of a major scale, a major seventh above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the leading-tone is sung as ti.

A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave.

An altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest example of altered chords is the use of borrowed chords, chords borrowed from the parallel key, and the most common is the use of secondary dominants. As Alfred Blatter explains, "An altered chord occurs when one of the standard, functional chords is given another quality by the modification of one or more components of the chord."

In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice era of Classical music to the 21st century. Chord progressions are the foundation of popular music styles, traditional music, as well as genres such as blues and jazz. In these genres, chord progressions are the defining feature on which melody and rhythm are built.

A jazz scale is any musical scale used in jazz. Many "jazz scales" are common scales drawn from Western European classical music, including the diatonic, whole-tone, octatonic, and the modes of the ascending melodic minor. All of these scales were commonly used by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, often in ways that directly anticipate jazz practice. Some jazz scales, such as the bebop scales, add additional chromatic passing tones to the familiar diatonic scales.

A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a minor seventh. However, a variety of sevenths may be added to a variety of triads, resulting in many different types of seventh chords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chord (music)</span> Harmonic set of three or more notes

In music, a chord is a group of two or more notes played simultaneously, typically consisting of a root note, a third, and a fifth. Chords are the building blocks of harmony and form the harmonic foundation of a piece of music. They can be major, minor, diminished, augmented, or extended, depending on the intervals between the notes and their arrangement. Chords provide the harmonic support and coloration that accompany melodies and contribute to the overall sound and mood of a musical composition. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and other types of broken chords may also be considered as chords in the right musical context.

A secondary chord is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of diatonic functions for tonicization.

Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses only seven different notes, rather than the twelve available on a standard piano keyboard. Music is chromatic when it uses more than just these seven notes.

In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad together with a minor seventh, denoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7". In most cases, dominant seventh chord are built on the fifth degree of the major scale. An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G7, having pitches G–B–D–F:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chord substitution</span> Technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords

In music theory, chord substitution is the technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords, or a chord progression. Much of the European classical repertoire and the vast majority of blues, jazz and rock music songs are based on chord progressions. "A chord substitution occurs when a chord is replaced by another that is made to function like the original. Usually substituted chords possess two pitches in common with the triad that they are replacing."

In music and music theory, a hexatonic scale is a scale with six pitches or notes per octave. Famous examples include the whole-tone scale, C D E F♯ G♯ A♯ C; the augmented scale, C D♯ E G A♭ B C; the Prometheus scale, C D E F♯ A B♭ C; and the blues scale, C E♭ F G♭ G B♭ C. A hexatonic scale can also be formed by stacking perfect fifths. This results in a diatonic scale with one note removed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guitar chord</span> Set of notes played on a guitar

In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E–A–D–G–B–E' ; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazz harmony</span> Harmonic music theory as it applies to Jazz

Jazz harmony is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. Jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions, and the incorporation of the major and minor scales as a basis for chordal construction. In jazz, chords are often arranged vertically in major or minor thirds, although stacked fourths are also quite common. Also, jazz music tends to favor certain harmonic progressions and includes the addition of tensions, intervals such as 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths to chords. Additionally, scales unique to style are used as the basis of many harmonic elements found in jazz. Jazz harmony is notable for the use of seventh chords as the basic harmonic unit more often than triads, as in classical music. In the words of Robert Rawlins and Nor Eddine Bahha, "7th chords provide the building blocks of jazz harmony."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazz improvisation</span> Spontaneous composition in jazz

Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist invents melodies and lines over a chord progression played by rhythm section instruments and accompanied by drums. Although blues, rock, and other genres use improvisation, it is done over relatively simple chord progressions which often remain in one key.

In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".

The chord-scale system is a method of matching, from a list of possible chords, a list of possible scales. The system has been widely used since the 1970s.

Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different Contexts Chord notation is a system used to represent chords in written music or chord charts. It typically consists of one or more letters representing the root note of the chord, along with additional symbols or letters indicating the chord quality, extensions, and alterations. For example, the chord notation "CMA J7" represents a C major seventh chord, while "Dm7b5" represents a D minor seventh flat five chord. Chord notation allows musicians to quickly understand and play various chords in a piece of music without having to read the full musical score. to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following:

  1. the root note,
  2. the chord quality,
  3. whether the chord is a triad, seventh chord, or an extended chord,
  4. any altered notes,
  5. any added tones, and
  6. the bass note if it is not the root.

References

  1. ↑ Ferguson, Jim (2000). All Blues Scale for Jazz Guitar: Solos, Grooves & Patterns, p. 6. ISBN   0-7866-5213-6.
  2. 1 2 Arnold, Bruce (2002). The Essentials: Chord Charts, Scales and Lead Patterns for Guitar, p. 8. ISBN   1-890944-94-7.
  3. ↑ Harrison, Mark (2003). Blues Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series, p. 8. ISBN   0-634-06169-0.
  4. ↑ Thibeault, M. D. (2022). "Aebersold's Mediated Play-A-Long Pedagogy and the Invention of the Beginning Jazz Improvisation Student". Journal of Research in Music Education doi : 10.1177/00224294211031894
  5. ↑ "The Pentatonic and Blues Scale". How To Play Blues Guitar. 2008-07-09. Archived from the original on 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  6. ↑ J. Bradford Robinson/Barry Kernfeld. "Blue Note", The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Second Edition, London (2002)
  7. ↑ Bryan Helmig (2008-02-25). "Blues Licks From Blues Scales". Between the Licks. Archived from the original on 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  8. ↑ Greenblatt, Dan (2011). The Blues Scales – Eb Version, [ page needed ]. ISBN   9781457101472.
  9. ↑ Smallwood, Richard (1980). "Gospel and Blues Improvisation" p. 102, Music Educators Journal, Vol. 66, No. 5. (Jan., 1980), pp. 100-104.
  10. ↑ Oliver, Paul. "That Certain Feeling: Blues and Jazz... in 1890?" p. 13, Popular Music, Vol. 10, No. 1, The 1890s. (Jan., 1991), pp. 11–19. Cites Rudi Blesh.
  11. ↑ Smith, Steven G. (1992). "Blues and Our Mind-Body Problem", Popular Music, Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jan., 1992), pp. 41–52.
  12. ↑ Benward & Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p. 39. Seventh Edition. ISBN   978-0-07-294262-0.
  13. ↑ Kachulis, Jimmy (2004). The Songwriter's Workshop, p.41. Berklee Press. ISBN   9781476867373
  14. ↑ Aebersold, J. (1967). How to Play Jazz and Improvise: Volume One. ISBN   9781562241223.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.