Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
those who want to play blues, should know the blues scale. guitar
players should know how to finger blues scales all the way up the neck in the
so called "box position". but let us start with some peculiarities of
blues tonality.
if you start from the root note and play a scale, a major scale is
like this: (a major scale is often called a diatonic scale.)
i + ii + iii - iv + v + vi + vii - i.
c: c + d + e - f + g + a + b - c
g: g + a + b - c + d + e + f# - g
d: d + e + f# - g + a + b + c# - d
a: a + b + c# - d + e + f# + g# - a
e: e + f# + g# - a + b + c# + d# - e
i + - iiib + iv + v + - viib + i.
c: c + - eb + f + g + - bb + c
g: g + - bb + c + d + - f + g
d: d + - f + g + a + - c + d
a: a + - c + d + e + - g + a
e: e + - g + a + b + - d + e
you should also note the viib in the blues scale, compared to the vii
in the major scale. if you read my lesson about the 12-bar blues form,
you will remember that i stressed the dominant-7 to tonika [tonic - ed]
relationship, and i stressed the effect of the intervals built on the
vii note: first of all the minor fifth interval from the vii note to
the iv note, but also the minor third interval from the vii note to the
ii note. now you can notice that both the vii note and the ii note are
omitted from the blues scale, but are still part of the blues-harmony.
let us then introduce the "box positions":
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
1 4 7b 3b 5 1
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| 5 1 4 | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
3b | | | 7b 3b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
box 1. the numbers refer to the numbers in the scale. i will refer to
the fret marked with a double line as the position. if you play it in
5th position, you will be in the key of a, 8th position will give you
c, and note that both the 12th and the 0th (open) positions give you
the key of e.
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| 5 1 4 | |
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
3b | | | 7b 3b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | 5 | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
4 7b 3b | 1 4
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
5 1 4 7b | 5
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
| | | | 3b |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | 5 1 | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
7b 3b | | 4 7b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
class assignment:
after a while you will realize that it is boring to play the scale up
and down. you must play melodies, and you have to utilize notes outside
the blues-scale as "spices" in your playing. but we will cover that in
a later lesson, where we will look at some blues-licks.