Play These 2 Notes for Bluesier Solos
I’ve always been a fan of the blues. My first musical obsession was Stevie Ray Vaughn. When I was eleven or twelve years old, I’d practice his licks for hours and hours instead of doing my homework.
A few years later, I discovered Charlie Parker and was blown away by how he was able to play bluesy, soulful lines on non-blues tunes like Dewey Square, Rhythm Changes, and other harmonically dense progressions.
The problem was that even though I could play transcribed SRV and Parker solos with my eyes closed, I had trouble coming up with my own lines that were just as bluesy and soulful.
It was especially frustrating because I knew the almighty “blues scale” and could even play it in multiple keys.
Later I figured out that knowing a scale and understanding a scale are two, very different things.
It wasn’t until I realized what made the blues scale bluesy that I was able to use it meaningfully.
Which brings me to the two notes that can instantly make your solos sound more soulful…
If you take a look at the blues scale, the scale degrees look like this:
1 b3 4 b5 5 b7
If you play those notes over a Dominant 7 chord, two of them will sound a little funky, both literally and figuratively.
Any idea which two notes I’m talking about?
The b3 and the b5.
Those are indeed the blue notes. They’re harmonic outcasts. Rule-breakers. Musical renegades.
But there is more to the story.
The blue notes are a spice and have the potential to give your music a ton of flavor. But if you don’t know how much spice to use and in what context to use it, you’re gonna ruin the dish.
So, if you want to learn how to harness the power of these blue notes and the blues scale in its entirety, make sure to enroll in Improvising with the Blues Scale (without sounding like an amateur).
You’ll also learn…
Why so many improvisers sound amateurish while improvising with the blues scale, and how to avoid the common pitfalls which lead to that “newbie” sound
How to “rhyme” your lines to make anything you play sound like it “belongs” … even if you play a whole bunch of mistakes
How to increase energy and intensity in your solos without needing to play really fast
And so much more.
But know this: the deadline to enroll is just around the bend, so click the link below and get started right away:
https://go.jeffschneidermusic.com/improvising-with-the-blues-scale
- Jeff