Between the Licks

hey, first off awesome site. do you think you could get around to writing a bluesy song? I already know a lot of theory and how to write some songs, but not blues. I've always been confused about what chords and scales to play for a blues song. Say you're in C for a regular song, the chords are C d e F G a Bdim C and you can play all of the modes on top of the chords or whatever. What would the chords look like in blues and what scale would you play? I always hear the minor pentatonic called the Blues scale, but say you're playing that and you're in the key of C, you have D#, F#, and Bb so a C major chord wouldn't work. I hope this isn't confusing you, just let me know if it is and I'll try to clarify. Thanks man.

edit: oh, and minor blues just makes me even more confused.

cashmoney805 wrote:

QUOTE:
Say you're in C for a regular song, the chords are C d e F G a Bdim C and you can play all of the modes on top of the chords or whatever. What would the chords look like in blues and what scale would you play?

Well, the blues is built on the blues scale on top of three basic chords. Normal rules don't apply.

Let's say we're in G. We play the chords G7, C7, and D7. Put simply, on top of that we play a G blues scale the entire time. We can throw in some chord tones though.

G7 = G B D F
C7 = C E G Bb
D7 = D F# A C

G blues = G Bb C (C#) D F

Let's say you really want that color, here are some concerns and resolutions. First off, you'll notice that some tones clash. It's not so bad though.

For example, during the G7, the Bb from the G blues scale and the B as the third of the G7 can seem at odds. But if you play the Bb, usually it is up high and is either out of the way or implies a spicy G7#9 (G B (D) F Bb==1 3 (5) b7 #9) chord.

For the C7, you can add an E for the major 3rd coloring of the chord. Even an A as the 6th of the C7 is kind of cool. Try bending on that and coming back down to the [G]. Finally, the Bb is the b7 which fits nicely.

For the D7, we have to step out a bit from the blues scale to grab chord tones so we must be careful. The [C] is great to bend on, it leads up from the b7 to the root (D). The Bb is good for a half-bend for a B which is the 6th of the D7 chord. Snatching an F# or A can be tricky unless you lead to and from them, otherwise they sound too pretty for the blues.

Hope this helps a bit. Maybe I can make a lesson from this.

Blues theory is an oxymoron BTW.

Bryan

I guess it's just hard thinkin like that, especially when tryin to do some improv. As a general rule, do you think it's safe to say you can play the mixolydian of the IV chord (like in E, play A mix over the A7) but just stick to the blues of E when you play the E7 and B7?

You could do that. The basic rules (to me) are:

1) Play the root blues scale nonstop.
2) Pepper mixolydian fragments here and there.

If you want to get a different sound other than a "blues" sound, then you can work on using different modes and arpeggios throughout. Otherwise, the blues are simple and based on the blues scale.

Of course taste dictates different approaches, I've been told I've no right to play the blues and I've been told I'm great, so taste is paramount.

To keep it simple for me when jamming/improvising with my band over a I-IV-V blues/rock progression I seem to migrate to the minor pentatonic scale for that Key and play runs, riffs, licks in different positions. While doing this I am looking for the right time to jump to the major pentatonic in that key. Kind of a call & response. Minor Pent -vs- Maj Pent.

Then I look for opportunity to blend the two scales especially for the 1st and 2nd strings. I think clapton and BB do this as well. Technically this may be a dorian mode, but I like to think of it as blending major and minor pentatonic within a lick.

Hope this helps. Also any ideas would be nice. I do have a little trouble play leads over the V chord that sound interesting....Pop

The V chord is a bit of a difficult chord to improv over. I've noticed that bends work really well, if only to mask the lack of note color that you aren't imparting onto the solo.

Regardless, chord tones work really well, especially from the bar position.

Awesome explanations by the way. So if you run out of fuel to play the colourful notes according to the chords, you can always play the root blues scale (not too sure if oyu can play major) since it works over all the chords. Otherwise if you want to spice things up, you can play those target notes like bending to root from dom7, the major third, 6th note, etc. or play the modes over the chords. So far, this is all that has clicked and it does sound good when you apply it to the guitar. Thanks so much. Correct me on anything I said so I can learn further.