Use them to find the right scales for soloing or to complete your melody, harmony or chord progression. Every scale determines a key,that is an harmonic combunation of tones based on that scale. May 31, 2016 musical scales a scale is a set of pitches or a group of notes that are arranged and played by increasing pitch ascending or decreasing pitch descending order. Jazz theory explained in 20 minutes chords, scales, 9ths. Playing the blues scale starting on c since there are 12 different key names on the piano keyboard, there are 12 possible blues scales. In western music theory terms, the blues scale is practically inexplicable. If you dont want notes, here are picture scales with all the major scales plus fingering for each hand. Just the blues scale can be considered a basis for a particular key blues. Mar 16, 2017 this is a lesson for beginners explaining how to improvise using the blues scale. Musicnotes features the worlds largest online sheet music catalogue with over 300,000 arrangements available to print and play instantly. This video shows a musicians hands as he explains and demonstrates how to play the c minor blues scale.
Each of the 20 grooves in this book contains over 150 patterns in total, using notes solely from the blues scale. 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. This sassy scale will enable you to riff, solo and improvise as you play your favorit. Blues scale in general it can be used on every chord but above all on min7 th and dominant 7th chord. Jul 07, 2018 playing the blues often comes down to a straight forward chord progression, which anyone can learn and play on the piano within minutes.
To get a quick taste of the blues buffet, a onebar example of an arpeggiated c major notes c, e, and g chord is shown below. Print and download in pdf or midi all blues scale m. 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. The blues scale pattern 2 were playing this scale in the key of a, so place the red note on string 4 on the 7th fret. Aug 12, 2019 for example, adding an eb note to a standard a pentatonic minor scale will change it into an a blues scale. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c eb f gb g bb c. The scale were going to use to improvise over this minor blues scheme which ill show you in a moment is the minor blues scale which we will build in the same we way we did with the major blues.
The utilization of blues scale is the same as pentatonic scale. The bb blues scale sounds good over bb7, eb7, and f7 if youre playing a bb blues. The right hand is going to hit the first e with the thumb. The basic formula for the blues scale can be used in any key but some keys will lend themselves easier to play on the piano. For the sake of brevity, ill only look at playing blues in the key of c. We can see the relationship when comparing the notes in the scale. They are all origins of ancient greek music and used in modern jazz, blues and funk music. Learn how to play the e blues scale on the piano piano.
All blues scale sheet music for piano download free in pdf. The blues scale is made from the 1st, flattened 3rd, 4th, flattened 5th, 5th and flattened 7th notes from the major scale above. I have quite a few students who are fans of playing the blues. These charts highlight the notes and chords of e blues scale. The scale is made up of the notes a, c, d, e sharp, e, g, and a. Volume 3 contains 12 jazz piano exercises and explorations by the acclaimed jazz piano educator, pianist, author, and recording artist tim richards. The note added is the diminished 5th o5 measured from the scale tonic.
These are the four most common scales in pop and rock music. Of course, just playing over the 3 basic blues chords is just scratching the surface. This is because this scale is really the blues scale with one note missing. The scales are used often for composing melodies and for improvisation. Here are pictures and notes of the major pentatonic blues scales. Playing the blues often comes down to a straight forward chord progression, which anyone can learn and play on the piano within minutes. This lesson on the basic blues scale for piano blues will cover how to find the right blue notes that are added to the major scale and will give some suggestions on how to use this new scale to improvise on the 12 bar blues progression. All blues scale sheet music for piano download free in. The 2nd and 6th notes of the major scale are not used. It introduces you to 28 of the most popular piano chords, and will get you playing your favorite songs in no time. Even beginner piano students can have fun practicing blues improv just have them stick to the black keys while you improv on e. The blues can be sung in a minor atmosphere as well. Blues music scales chart for jazz improvisation jazz theory.
The solution below shows the e blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of e appears on the circle of fifths diagram as both a major and minor key, the lesson steps explain both ways of constructing this blues scale for this key the 1st construction, using the major scale, starts at lesson 3 the 2nd construction, using the minor. And no traditional western scale has three adjacent chromatic notes, the blues scales f, fsharp and g. Shop our most popular blues sheet music such as the house of the rising sun, stairway to heaven and wonderful tonight. Music educational books and sheet music downloads for blues, jazz, funk, latin, gospel, rock, celtic styles for instruments including piano, keyboards, sax. The secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell you about. To play your own 12bar blues, just follow these easy instructions, playing with either hand or both hands. We can use it in any place that we would use the traditional pentatonic scale, just taking care to the fact that the blue note is a passing note, in other words, it must appear just among other notes and not as a resting note.
Tim wrote the well known exploring jazz piano and improvising blues piano books and has several others to his name. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in. Some of the most famous blues, boogie and rock n roll songs use this simple chord technique artists like jerry lee lewis, little richard, ray charles and fats domino would use. They are the 5 notes of the minor pentatonic scale, plus one additional note. Learn how to play the a blues scale on piano free video. A nice combination are the chords am7, dm7 and e7 together with the a pentatonic blues scale.
No matter what type of music you favor when you play the piano, youre likely to play the blues scale at some point. To analyze this were going to spell out the notes in the a minor pentatonic scale, which are. In this lesson, ill teach you three simple blues riffs that pack a lot of punch. For right hand fingering, start on the a with your thumb. Pattern 1st 2nd flattened 3rd 3rd 4th 5th 6th flattened 7th 7th. Blues scale lesson, blues scale in all keys by michael.
At this point in our study of the blues, now its time to introduce the blues scale. For example, in an a minor blues scale, the added note would be d sharp. In the case of c pentatonic, the three chords are c7 f7 g7. Blues scale formula, piano with images blues scale, piano scales. You can also click on the image below and use it in png format.
After you understand the scale, you can experiment on your own. The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars thus the phrase 12bar blues that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords. Or, in the same way, the g blues scale with the chords g7, c7 and d7. Now ill show you the proper fingering for the scale. Adding a blue note to the regular pentatonic scale result in the pentatonic blues scale. Free minor pentatonic blues scale chart saras music studio. Both the blues scale and relative minor blues scale are explained in detail and how they are used either separately or together in the patterns for each style, the relative minor blues scale is generally not used in minor keys.
See also mixoblues scale and mixolydian bebop dominant bebop scale. The blues scale is so important for anyone who wants to play the blues. This is not hard to understand, because the blue note. The major blues scale for jazz piano georgia on my mind. It can be used over anything including the 12 bar blues, funk and jazz providing the key doesnt change. Move up the scale finger by finger until you hit the e sharp with your fourth finger. How to play the c minor blues scale on the piano piano. The secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell you. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. The best way to get used to playing the blues is to have a go at improvising over the top of a 12 bar blues chord progression. Easy way to learn to play e blues scale on a piano using our notes and chords charts. How to form the blues scale on piano piano scales youtube. This is a lesson for beginners explaining how to improvise using the blues scale. Try and remember where the blues notes are in each of the 5 shapes.
The lower part of this scale is pretty tricky to play, so i usually recommend sliding down to the blue note on string 5 and playing the two notes on the thickest string with fingers 2 and 4. Download our free pdf versions of each scale with fingering. The blues scale for guitar pdf files digital sheet music. The only 3 chords you need to master the blues on piano. The eflat in the c blues scale makes it sound minor, but the scale is customarily played on top of major chords. Lets learn the blues scales on piano and keyboard in every key. Not only are these really fun to play, but they will also help you to understand the blues scale on a deeper level. Download our free apps for ios, android or desktop and interact with your sheet music anywhere with inapp.
The 1st construction, using the major scale, starts at lesson 3. This scale is a real rebel, practically throwing the rules of scale building out the window. For example, adding an eb note to a standard a pentatonic minor scale will change it into an a blues scale. To flatten a note, just replace it with the piano key lower in pitch ie. Enter some of the notes you want or even a chord or two. In the same manner, the c mixolydian relates to the f major. 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. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys. How to really improvise using the blues scale youtube. Two notes which are not part of the basic blues scale but are like first cousins are the 6th and the 2nd. Some of the most famous blues, boogie and rock n roll songs use this simple chord technique artists like jerry lee lewis, little richard, ray charles and fats domino would use these chords in a lot of their legendary songs.
This video would be helpful to anyone learning to play blues piano. How to play the blues on the piano or keyboard dummies. Heres a little something that ive been working with in the studio this week. If youre playing an f blues, use the f blues scale, etc. The blues scale can also be used over minor chords when the minor chord is sounded for 2, 4, 8, or 16. Heres a free piano chord chart of all twelve scales of the blues. Even though the lick and lefthand are written out as eighth notes, they are really played with a triplet feel. The mixolydian scale or mode is one of the modal scales. A big jazz musician wrote a sentence in his book and he was particularly struck by it when i was eighteen and it simply said that blues is the soul of jazz. You may also notice that g mixolydian relates to the scale c major scale.
Jan 31, 2014 free minor pentatonic blues scale chart. You just need to know the right notes for each key. Since the key of d appears on the circle of fifths diagram as both a major and minor key, the lesson steps explain both ways of constructing this blues scale for this key. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c eb f gb g. This scale is much used above all in blues,pop,jazz,soul,funk,rhythm and blues,rock. 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. Apr 02, 2020 the secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell you about. The pentatonic scale, major and minor free piano lessons. Well if you listen to any bluesy soloists oscar peterson or gene harris are two great example for piano you will hear that they use a lot of major blues scale which unlocks these other important notes. This tool will find the scales compatible with your inputs. A blues scale consists of 6 different notes, namely the root, flat 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, 5th and flat 7th of the major scale. The next scale i want to talk about is the e 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.
Lets first look at a blues scale that starts on c, called a c blues scale. The exercises in this book use the major scale, pentatonic scale, blues scale, and chromatic scale. Nov 09, 2018 learning riffs on the piano is an awesome way to sound amazing quickly. The solution below shows the d blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of d appears on the circle of fifths diagram as both a major and minor key, the lesson steps explain both ways of constructing this blues scale for this key the 1st construction, using the major scale, starts at lesson 3 the 2nd construction, using the minor. Over a bb blues progression, you would use only the bb blues scale. Then begin improvising on a major or minor blues structure, just using blues scale notes. You can hear it in rock, country, jazz, and of course. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the c7, f7, and g7 chords. Lets take a look at the notes that make up the e blues scale. Instead of each scale relating to a specific chord, this scale is based on the overall key. The basic formula for the blues scale can be used in any key but some keys will lend themselves easier.
Any note you hit in this scale, usually sounds right when soloing. Chord with the fifth scale note as its root note these three chords appear in the same order and for the same number of measures every time the 12bar phrase is repeated. The secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell. These scales are for obvious reasons perfect when playing blues on the piano. Remember, to turn this combination of notes into a blues progression, simply play the same combination in the chords of c, f, and g in the 12bar blues pattern.
E major blues scale charts for piano music motivated. The pentatonic scale is a great scale for improvising and soloing. There are a total of 430 finger exercises in this book. Musical scales and emotions there are many different types of musical scales. Jazclass blues scale lesson, blues scale in all keys by. The solution below shows the d blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef. Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. Likewise, if youre playing an f blues, the f blues scale.