Its just a sheet with all the 12 major blues scales on it. It is basically a minor pentatonic scale with a blue note. Apr 02, 2020 this is the secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell you about. So if youve been playing the piano for a little while now and youre very familiar with the c major scale, youll know that its the first and easiest scale youll learn. I recommend practicing the c blues scale up and down the piano. And the best part of all, is that piano blues scales are not difficult to grasp.
A blues scale is a six note scale based on the major or minor pentatonic with added chromatic blue notes. Free beginner blues improv lesson my fun piano studio. The blues scale can also be used over minor chords when the minor chord is. The pentatonic scale, major and minor free piano lessons. Jazz piano lessons stepbystep lessons to master jazz theory.
C minor blues scale can be used over all the chords in a minor blues cm, fm, d, g7b9. Pentatonic scale piano made easy learn jazz piano blues. When playing a twelve bar blues in the key of bb, use the bb blues scale anywhere in the chord progression. The form of straight no chaser is a jazz blues in f, and so the chord changes are identical to the jazz blues in the other download. To see the blues chord progressions with their relevant blues scales in.
The jazz, rags, and blues series by martha mier are a good place to start if you re looking for sheet music. They are written in treble and bass clef in all twelve keys. Before we jump into specific piano blues scales, lets take another look at the basics. In the major blues scales, sometimes its easier to use 123412 pattern c. We can add the flat 5, b5, or blue note to the pentatonic scale, making it a sixnote scale called the blues scale. The solution below shows the f blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef. The harmony of blues music is not usually sophisticated. The pdf can be accessed at the bottom of this page. For more advanced students, have them play a 12 or 16bar blues form underneath. To build a major scale you follow this pattern of semitones and tones. It is used in all types of music blues, rock, jazz, metal, funk, electronica, everything really. The major blues scale is some less common than the minor blues scale, and therefore we start with the minor and you will find the major. Throughout the book there are patterns of these two scales both individually and.
These scales are for obvious reason perfect when playing blues on the piano. For right hand fingering, start on the a with your thumb. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues and rock music that lasts for 12 bars. Adding a blue note to the regular pentatonic scale results in the pentatonic blues scale. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c. The secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell you.
The more common minor blues scale has the semitone pattern 12. The most common types of scale are major scales, minor scales and the blues scale. The major blues scale is some less common than the minor blues scale and therefore we start with minor and you find the major by scrolling down. Essential piano blues scales in major and minor oktav. The solution below shows the g blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of g 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 pentatonic scale. Today i want to talk to you about the 12 bar blues. Sep 28, 2004 volume 2 has 14 jazz piano exercises and tricks of the trade, and quite a bit of it is calypso jazz piano related material, including some monty alexander and michel camilo style grooves. On page 1, the notes of the c blues scale are shown both on the keyboard and on the staff. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so on a complete list can. For the sake of brevity, ill only look at playing blues in the key of c. Blues scales are the most commonly used scales in most genres of music. Since the key of f 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. Taking this pdf home with them ensures that they wont forget how to play the e flat blues after they leave your studio.
Move up the scale finger by finger until you hit the e sharp with your fourth finger. Below are listed the twelve minor dorian minor, major, and dominant 7th scales. Using the blues scale in other contexts the blues scale can be used in any context, on any tune. The image to the right shows both the c and a relative minor of c blues scales. The blues scale for pianokeyboards digital sheet music. The first scale were focusing on in this study is the blues scale. The solution below shows the db blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of db appears on the circle of fifths diagram as a major key, lesson 3 explains how to construct the blues scale based on the major scale, for this key for a quick summary of this topic, have a look at blues scale. Adding a blue note to the regular pentatonic scale gives the pentatonic blues scale.
The blues scale is very similar to the minor pentatonic scale, but with an additional lowered 5th note lowered by half a stepsemitone, or blues note. Download free printable sheet music for the scale with fingering in pdf format. Jan 31, 2014 switch out the regular twooctave majorminor scales for a minor pentatonic blues scale. Just the blues scale can be considered a basis for a particular key blues. Scale compendium, often referred to as the major 326 or minor 330 pentatonic scale 4, play the shapes found in the exercises, but replace the written notes with the notes of your chos en scale. Break the scale into two segments with fingerings 4321 and 31. Since the key of bb 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 scale itself is the same as the minor pentatonic with the addition of one extra note. Gordon is he feels, one of his most important books because of the nature of the blues scale and how it is used to improvise in many styles of contemporary music. This sassy scale will enable you to riff, solo and improvise as you play your favorite rock or blues songs. Playing the minor blues scale in multiple positions. C major blues scale piano notation for blues piano improv.
I put the student sitting on the treble side of the keyboard in charge of playing a melody using these notes. Lets learn the blues scales on piano and keyboard in every key. Jazz piano education is through the ears, but books like this can help. These are the four most common scales in pop and rock music. This is because this scale is really the blues scale with one note missing. That b5, or blue note, adds a lot of tension and color to the scale. Piano lessons music lessons piano scales fingering blue fingers blues scale playing piano piano teaching piano sheet music music theory more information. The major blues scale, or what i call the gospel scale, is the second scale you should learn if you want to improvise blues piano in a key.
The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth. The blues scale is based on the pentatonic scale and follows a specific. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. Try to use your knowledge to build the blues scale from d, f, g, and a. Learning the simple but powerful blues scales will change how you play the piano. Note that scale degrees 10 is the same as 3, 12 the same as 5, 14 the same as 7, and 15 the same as and root. Major scales are usually associated with upbeat and optimistic music. 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 scale is built will scale degrees 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, and 1 again. The only 3 chords you need to master the blues on piano. Learn how to play the a blues scale on piano free video. The blues scale is an extension of the pentatonic scale with the addition of one extra note, the blues note a flat 5th in this key its the g flat. At this point in our study of the blues, now its time to introduce the blues scale. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys.
When playing a twelve bar blues in the key of bb, use the bb blues scale. Jazz piano basics dan davey tensions are non chord tones that are added to a chord to change the colortexture of the chord. C major blues scale piano notation for blues piano. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles.
How to play major blues scales on the piano free lesson. Microsoft word majorminor blues scales boxesguitar. There are a total of 430 finger exercises in this book. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. All of these are chord tones ct, and therefore, these are not tensions. A blues scale once again it is important that if you are going to learn to improvise with this scale that you. For example, in an a minor blues scale, the added note would be d sharp. Music educational books and sheet music downloads for blues, jazz, funk, latin, gospel, rock, celtic styles for instruments including piano, keyboards, sax. This music theory piano lesson explains how to determine the notes in any major blues scale, and the scales relationship to major and major pentatonic scale. With your knowledge of chord tones, the blues scale is now just another. To see the blues chord progressions with their relevant blues scales in every key please see the the chart on the next page. Oct 29, 2020 playing the minor blues scale in multiple positions.
For example, the f major blues scale is the same as the d blues scale some people call this the minor blues scale but the d blues scale starts on d and its home base root note. Free 12 major blues scale sheet steve neff music blog. List of piano chords free chord charts piano chords. 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. The pentatonic scale is a great scale for improvising and soloing. How to use your quickstart improv lesson to boost student confidence, get new clients, and reengage bored students. Can you use the formula and finger pattern you just learned to move the blues scale around the piano. Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the c7, f7, and g7 chords. Piano geri allen, lynne arriale, kenny barron, bruce barth, richie beirach. Free minor pentatonic blues scale chart saras music studio. May 12, 2014 blues scale fingerings for piano leave a comment the blues scale is a staple of jazz musicians the world over, but i realised while teaching a student of mine the other day that i have never worked out a thorough system of fingerings for the blues scale in all the keys. The blues scale in the key of c consists of the following notes c, eb, f, gb, g, bb, and c. This scale is much used above all in blues,pop,jazz,soul,funk,rhythm and blues,rock.
Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. Blues scale in general it can be used on every chord but above all on min7 th and dominant 7th chord. A lot of people are under the impression that blues piano is not for beginners. The blues scale is so important for anyone who wants to play the blues. Jan 30, 2019 learn how to form piano blues scales here. Heres the notation for the scale thats used in the video above. The exercises in this book use the major scale, pentatonic scale, blues scale, and chromatic scale. Usually, we begin improvising on songs like blues in bb or f, satin doll. Any note you hit in this scale, usually sounds right when soloing. The secret piano blues scale the professionals dont tell. If youre a beginner on this page, i have good news for you.
You just need to know the right notes for each key. Download our jazz handbook as a pdf jamey aebersold jazz. The blues scale for pianokeyboards pdf file adg productions. If you download the file 12 bar blues lesson supplement the first page contains the basic blues form, and the enhanced jazz blues form with numeric analysis. The major pentatonic blues scale is probably not as popular as the minor pentatonic scale but is very useful and is applicable to many.
In case you need to do the same, here are the fingering charts i made. C major blues scale piano notes for blues piano improv. Piano geri allen, lynne arriale, kenny barron, bruce barth, richie beir. The blues scale formula free online piano lessons the. The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars thus the phrase 12bar blues that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords. Using the blues scale in other contexts the blues scale can be. Whether you play guitar, trumpet, or whatever, it helps to see the blues scale on piano.
Jazz blues progression in f learn jazz piano online with. If you are not doing a duet, this is simply the rh part. Once you are familiar with the intervallic characteristics of the scale, it should be very easy to play in any key. The major blues scale is some less common than the minor blues scale, and therefore we start with the minor and you will find the major by scrolling down. The 1st construction, using the major scale, starts at lesson 3. Download our free pdf versions of each scale with fingering. Well be covering a variety of scales in this segment that are commonly used in blues music. How to improvise on piano using the blues scale youtube. The blues scale is based on the pentatonic scale and follows a specific formula. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. Apr 09, 20 to help my students learn how to improvise the 12bar blues, i created this printable. The first thing youre going to want to know is penta in pentatonic means 5. Blues piano scales, chords, and chord progressions for.
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