How to play the blues on the piano or keyboard dummies. Each scale is provided as a separate pdf download with finger numbers above each note. Tim wrote the well known exploring jazz piano and improvising blues piano books and has several others to his name. In addition, it is a common method to put extra empathize on the tones of the involved chords when the actual chord is being played. For more information and licks using the blues scales check out my two books on mastering the blues scales.
Lets learn the blues scales on piano and keyboard in every key. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. We provide downloads for common scales including major, the three minor scales natural, harmonic, and melodic, the blues scale, and others. This scale is much used above all in blues,pop,jazz,soul,funk,rhythm and blues,rock. Heres a little something that ive been working with in the studio this week. Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. Since our weather has been so blue up here, i thought it might be fun to work on our improv skills with minor pentatonic blues scales. Apr 05, 2016 18 videos play all blues piano lessons david magyel david magyel jazz theory explained in 20 minutes chords, scales, 9ths 11ths ths duration. I have quite a few students who are fans of playing the blues.
Move up the scale finger by finger until you hit the e sharp with your fourth finger. C minor blues scale can be used over all the chords in a minor blues cm, fm, d, g7b9. They think that learning the blues scale will help them to write and perform blues style music and they are correct. I remember being introduced to the blues scale in jazz band when i was a sixth grader.
Major and minor blues scales guitar tab and essential licks. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. Download our free pdf versions of each scale with fingering. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c eb f gb g. The exercises in this book use the major scale, pentatonic scale, blues scale, and chromatic scale. These make great handouts for piano teachers to use with students.
Mar 11, 2015 recently i did a post about the 3 most important jazz scales for beginning improvisers. A blues scale consists of 6 different notes, namely the root, flat 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, 5th and flat 7th of the major scale. A blues scale practice this over an a minor and a c major chord. Playing scales over the 12bar blues you can either play one scale over all bars or change scale as the chord change. The major blues scale is some less common than the minor blues scale, and therefore we start with minor and you will find the major by scrolling down. At this point in our study of the blues, now its time to introduce the blues scale.
They just ooze that minor bluesy vibe or sweet major vibe. The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars thus the phrase 12bar blues that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords. While its a good idea to familiarize yourself with the blues scale for each key, you can usually fall back on the root blues scale at just about any point in a jazz solo. The blues scale for each key consists of the minor seventh chord in this case, cm7, plus the fourth and flat fifth f and gb. Even beginner piano students can have fun practicing blues improv. Blues scales are used in many musical kinds for example in blues, jazz, rock and roll, funk, soul rhythm and blues, dance, pop.
For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c eb f gb g bb c. Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the c7, f7, and g7 chords. In some respects, teaching the this scale as the first jazz scale makes sense. Armed with your knowledge of the major and extended blues scales, listen and transcribe from your favourite players.
Pentatonic scales are killer scales to play over blues and over iivv changes. Label the scale degrees of the major pentatonic scales. Though it takes you longer to use this scale in your solos, the payoff is well worth it. When playing a twelve bar blues in the key of bb, use the bb blues scale anywhere in the chord progression.
There are a total of 430 finger exercises in this book. What is the difference between a pentatonic scale and a. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. Almost all music genres being born in the last hundred years come from blues above all in notclassical music. Here is a pdf of the 36 important scales major, dorian, and. The scales are used often for composing melodies and for improvisation. The major blues scale is some less common than the minor blues scale, and therefore we start with minor and you will find the major by. When this happens, the blues scale is often the first jazz scale that the student is taught. Learn how to play the a blues scale on piano free video. Free 12 major blues scale sheet steve neff music blog. Adding a blue note to the regular pentatonic scale result in the pentatonic blues scale.
The blues scale is one of the first guitar scales we explore on the guitar when learning how to solo. To play your own 12bar blues, just follow these easy instructions, playing with either hand or both hands. As well, major and minor blues scales are used in different ways in a lead guitar situation. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. These scales are for obvious reason perfect when playing blues on the piano.
The best results come from combining the two scales. The major blues scale for jazz piano georgia on my mind. Blues scales for piano adding a blue note to the regular pentatonic scale gives the pentatonic blues scale. For right hand fingering, start on the a with your thumb.
Free blues course free courses piano saxophone songs mp3s bridge my blog products online shop other. I am always getting asked by piano players, guitarists and solo instrumentalists to show them the blues scale. To summarize, the most important scales to learn first are the major, dorian, and mixolydian scales because they help you navigate major 7th, minor 7th, and dominant b7 chords, respectively. Then notate its relative minor scale and its scale degrees.
Learn how to play the b blues piano scale piano lessons. How to improvise on piano using the blues scale youtube. If you have tried transcribing blues in the past you may have found it difficult because you were only aware of the minor blues scale. Music educational books and sheet music downloads for blues, jazz, funk, latin, gospel, rock, celtic styles for instruments including piano, keyboards, sax. The blues scale for pianokeyboards pdf file adg productions. The blues scales are really fun to learn, because if you are playing a blues song it sounds really good to just throw in a blues scale walk here and there. When you have the chord progression memorized, try playing the chords with the left hand while your right hand plays a simple melody, riff, or blues scale. For many students, when starting out with blues improvisation, its very easy to get locked inside the notes of the blues scale and never deviate away from 6 tones. There is slight variations in how you use this scale depending on the harmony behind it. The major blues scale is some less common than the minor blues scale and therefore we start with minor and you find the major by scrolling down. For the sake of brevity, ill only look at playing blues in the key of c. What is the difference between a pentatonic scale and a blues. Blues scale in general it can be used on every chord but above all on min7 th and dominant 7th chord. Jan 31, 2014 free minor pentatonic blues scale chart.
The cool, swing, chicken picken, jump blues sound that this scale produces makes a solid addition to the repertoire of any modern guitarist. The scale is used in many different styles of music, such as rock, blues, and jazz. Usually its the next scale learned after the major and minor scales. Gordon is he feels, one of his most important books because of the nature of the blues scale and how it is used to improvise in many styles of contemporary music. So c minor and a minor blues scales can be used over all the chords in a basic major blues c7, f7 and g7, although some care is needed when using the e natural over the f7 chord. Usually, we begin improvising on songs like blues in bb or f, satin doll, maiden voyage. Free minor pentatonic blues scale chart saras music studio. Why learning more than one scale pattern is beneficial. Oct 24, 2019 the most common types of scale are major scales, minor scales and the blues scale. Jan 09, 2018 if you take a look at the sheet you might notice that the scales are the same as the scales on my free 12 blues scales sheet but that they start on a different note. Just the blues scale can be considered a basis for a particular key blues. Once you purchase a sheet music, you will be able to download the pdf file right away from the website.
I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys. There are two pentatonic scales, major pentatonic and minor pentatonic. These scales are for obvious reasons perfect when playing blues on the piano. Read on for a complete blues scale guitar lesson the basic blues scale guitar pattern. For example, the f major blues scale is the same as the d blues scale some people call this the minor blues scale but the d blues scale starts on d and its home base root note. Answers on page 7 a closer look at the major and minor pentatonic scales in the traditional ionian major and aeolian natural minor scales, there exists a tritone augmented 4 th diminished 5 th between the 4 th and 7 th. Aug 12, 2019 on this page youll find blues scale guitar tab, patterns and notation that will allow you to play blues scales all over the guitar neck. Blues scale lesson, blues scale in all keys by michael. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. These are the four most common scales in pop and rock music. The only 3 chords you need to master the blues on piano.
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