The Blues

[Metallicka]

I've recently learnt the first 3 box patterns of the blues scale
and I love em.

My question: Can you actually have a song in the key of say 'A blues'? If so what
would the chords be?

I understand that the blues scale is the minor pentatonic scale
with an added flattened 5th and that you can play it over the
appropriate minor key to give it a bluesy feel.

If the minor scale is this: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
And it's chords are these: min dim maj min min maj maj

The minor pentatonic is this: 1 b3 4 5 b7
min maj min min maj

The blues is this: 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7
min maj min ? min maj

What would the b5 chord be?

edit: was trying to stop it from scrolling sideways but...

[Rayman]

The basic 12 bar 'A Blues' progression would start on A for 4 bars, then go to D for 2 bars, back to A for 2, then E7 for 1, D for 1, A for 1 and finally E7 for 1.

The thing is - they're usually just played as power chords, or major chords. You're using a minor pentatonic, but playing it over three major chords. Weird, huh? Sounds good though. And the blues scale is so flexible. It's very easy to sneak in a major second, a major third and a major sixth whenever you feel like it. That really only leaves out the minor second, minor sixth and major seventh, and you can even sneak those in as long as you pick your time and place well.

There is no b5 chord. Whenever you get three notes in a scale that are each a semi-tone apart, all of the chord theory tends to curl up in a corner and sob quietly for a while. Think of the b5 as a bonus note in the scale, rather than as a true member of the team.

[Metallicka]

Thx.

So the flattened 5th can be played over any chord to give it the blues feel but it doesn't officially fit with anything?

[Rayman]

Hmmm... I don't think the b5 makes the blues. A minor pentatonic makes the blues. Lots of bends make the blues. Tasty phrasing makes the blues. There's a lot of ingredients in there.

With any scale you play, you can throw in 'non-scale' notes from time to time. The b5 in the blues scale is usually used as a passing note, rather than a note you camp on from the start of the progression. And as I said, the blues is flexible enough to let you sneak in a whole lot of other notes that aren't in the minor pentatonic.

The same goes when you're using the major scale, or minor scale, or any other scale out there. In general, you'll stick to the notes in the scale. Every now and then you'll reach out and play a note from outside the scale though. The 'non-scale' notes won't work over every chord in the progression, but they will work over some, so you need to pick the right place for them.

As always, the best way to figure this stuff out is to just start jamming along to a chord progression. Get a blues progression looping over and over, then solo over it for half an hour. That's when a lot of these ideas start making sense. Before that it's just abstract knowledge. It's much better when it's practical, and you can understand exactly how you can use it, and why you'd want to use it.

And the diminished triad has a b5. The first triad in the Locrian mode is diminished, so I guess you could say the b5 'fits with' the Locrian scale. Good luck getting anything useful out of the Locrian mode though. It's supremely unstable...

[Metallicka]

Until today I'd never improvised with a backing track. I have no means to record my own and from an hour or two of searching the net I didn't find any that were good enuff quality.

I bought the Guitar Techniques magazine and the cd has some backing tracks on it which are cool for improvising over. I used the backing track to 'Sleepwalk' which is in B major and played B pentatonics over it and I rocked for my first time improvising over a backing track. My bro who was in the other room actually came and asked if I was making it up or playing something by sum1 coz it sounded great at times.

Man I can't believe how cool it is to play guitar! I think I'm gonna search for some good quality backing tracks now. It's far more fun and beneficial to improv than to spend ages learning sum1 elses solo. To say it was my first time playing over a backing track I felt I coulda recorded it and played it to sum1 and they wouldn't know it was me and not some good guitarist :) I think I may have a talent for this, it's just a pity I'm 26 and have only just got into it :(

[Rayman]

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's addictive stuff...

I've got FruityLoops on my PC. I just put a basic drumtrack in, then put a chord progression over the top, hook a cable from the soundcard to my RP300, plug my guitar in to the RP300, then put on the headphones and away I go. I've got about 10 chord progressions set up. Each progression brings different things out of the scales. I can easily sit there and play over the same four chord progression for half an hour... it sounds like it'd get boring, but it just doesn't.

And it really is the best way to re-inforce all the knowledge. For me anyway. It sort of makes sense when I read theory stuff, but it really clicks once I sit down and play it.