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The Basics |
Walking Bass Lines |
IIm7-V7-Imaj7 |
Circle of 5ths | Simple Blues
Simple Blues
The roots of gospel, jazz, and most other popular music grow deep
within the blues tradition. When Africans were kidnapped and
brought here to be sold as slaves, they were accompanied by
a deep heritage where music and rhythm were fundamental to
life in their society. A small, simplistic five note scale
that didn't even fit into western tonality found itself as
the seed of almost everything we hear.
- The Blues Scale
- Blues Chords
- The Basic 12 Bar Blues Form
The blues is something you should know in all twelve keys
because the blues IS the cornerstone of gospel and jazz. Knowing the
blues in 12 keys is such a universal law that people
don't even have to mention it.
The Blues Scale
The blues scale, shown here in the key of F, is a rather
simple scale, encompassing all of five notes.
(midi link)
Some people might add what is often called the "blues"
note, and it would be the B natural in the following
example.
(midi link)
This "blues" note is our attempt at playing a note that
doesn't exactly fit into western tonality. It lies somewhere
between the 4th and the flat 5th. Africans didn't know about
western tonality back in the 1700's, so they didn't consider
that anything might have been wrong with their music (thank
goodness!)
Blues Chords
Before we go on to a simple blues form, you need to know
what to do when you see a chord symbol. When you play these
examples, try to learn these chords in all the keys. It may
take a while, but learning in all the keys is important.
Keep in mind that the chord voicings are not set in stone.
If you come up with something on your own that you like
better, learn it in all the keys and then use it! For this
lesson we will be keeping out examples in the key of F
blues.
(midi link)
Play the root in your left hand as you play the chords.
Now, as we look at the basic 12 bar blues form, you can play
the chords above wherever they are called for in the
following form.
(midi link)
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