PRACTISING

THE BLUES

PART 1: BLUES SCALES

PETE THOMAS
Lee Allen - photographer Lionel Decoster
© Pete Thomas 2012. All rights reserved. First Edition September 2012

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 Introduction and how to use this book.

I have set out the minor and major pentatonic and blues scales in all keys.

The blues scales can be thought of as derived from the simpler five note
pentatonic scales, as they are the same but with the addition of one note.
They can actually be thought of as a pentatonic scales but with a passing
note.

If you are already familiar with pentatonic scales, please skip to the blues
scale section, otherwise you might find it useful to learn the pentatonic scales
before the blues scales.

Note that depending on your saxophone skills and music theory knowledge,
there is no need to tackle all the keys, you can work first on just one or two of
the easier ones. In fact it can be best to learn one scale really well so you can
get a feel for how it sounds. This will help you to learn the other keys “by
ear” (recommended if possible). However many people have asked for a quick
reference of all keys written out, so here they are in all keys.

Where relevant I have included some of the chords of a blues sequence that
the scale might “fit” over, but you must remember when playing a blues, that
purely playing scales up and down is not really improvising, but for absolute
beginners might at least get you out of trouble.

What you might aim for is:

✦Being able to use either the minor or major scale when appropriate
✦Instead of using scales, being able to use phrases, licks or riffs that you
have constructed with the help of the scales.

The blues scales are incredibly useful when learning the blues, with a few
caveats. As with any scale and improvisation, the scales are best used as a
pool of notes from which to make up original phrases or riffs. While learning it
can of course be useful to play the scales up and down along with the music,
and this is a great way for a non improviser to survive when thrown in at the
deep and and made to improvise a chorus or two when playing in a band.
Enharmonics
When there is a choice of sharps and flats (e.g. F# or G enharmonic
spellings) I have mostly opted to use sharps for ascending phrases and flats
for descending phrases. Sometimes this means using what may appear to be
strange notes, e.g. C instead of B .

There is a good reason for this. If you are not sure why, it will become obvious
when you start to learn more about harmony and music theory.

I have not been completely consistent in this rule, as I have tried to strike a
balance between theoretical correctness and ease of use for the beginner. For
this reason I have not used double sharps or double flats.

Here are the equivalent notes:

Note: Same fingering and pitch as:

C B

F E

B C

E F
 C o n t e n t s

Pentatonic Scales! 1
Minor Pentatonic ! 2
Major Pentatonic! 4

Blues Scales! 6
Minor Blues Scale in Major Key! 7
Minor Blues Scale in Minor Key ! 9
Major Blues Scale! 11
Any Questions?! 13
Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

P e n t a t o n i c
S c a l e s

Pentatonic scales are simple five note

scales. If you already know your major
and minor scales, you will recognise
these pentatonics as being the same
but with a note missing here and
there, so the good news is that they
are easier to play.

There are different types of

pentatonic, as there can be many
different combinations of five notes.
The ones we show here are probably
the most common, and also they are
the most useful to learn how the blues
scales are derived.

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

Minor Pentatonic

These scales can be thought of like

any minor scale (harmonic, melodic or
natural) but with the 2nd and 7th
degrees of the scale missing.

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

#
b 4 ˙ œ n n n ## #
Cm
& b b4 œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ
œ ˙
###C# m nnnn b
#
& ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ
œ œ œ ˙

œ ˙ œ œ bbbbbb
Dm
&bœ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
b
b b
& b b bb œ œ œ ˙ œ œ nnnnnn #
Em
˙ œ ˙ œ œ ˙

# Em œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ n bb b
& œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ b

˙ œ #
b b œ œ œ ˙ n n n n ##
Fm
&bb œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙

### F m nnn bb
#
˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ
& œ œ œ ˙

œ ˙ œ œ #
b ˙ œ ˙ œ n n ## ##
Gm
&b œ œ œ ˙

####G m œ
#
˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ nnnn
& #œ œ ˙ n

œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
œ ˙ œ œ bbbbb
Am
& œ ˙

B bm œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
bb
&bbb œ
œ ˙ œ œ ˙ n n n n n ##

## Bœm œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ nn
& œ ˙

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

Major Pentatonic

These scales can be thought of like a

regular major scale but with the 4th
and 7th degrees of the scale missing.

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

˙ ˙ bbbbb
C7
& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
˙ ˙
D b7
b
& b bbb ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ n n n n n ##
˙
#D# 7 œ ˙ ˙ œ nn bb
& ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ b
b
#
b œ ˙ ˙ œ n n n ## #
E7
&bb˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
####E7 œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ nnnn b
& ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙
˙ ˙ #
œ œ œ œ n ## ###
F7
&b˙ œ œ œ œ ˙

#### # F 7 nnnnn #
#
œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ
& # ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙

#G 7 œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ n bb b
& ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ b
b
œ ˙ ˙ œ #
b b œ œ œ œ n n n n ##
A7
&bb ˙ œ œ ˙

### A7 œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ nnn bb
& ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙

B b7 œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ #
b
&b ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ n n ## ##

####B7˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ
& # œ œ œ œ ˙

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

B l u e s S c a l e s

Blues scales are probably an invention of teachers and academics rather than
blues musicians, it seems they weren’t mentioned before the 1960s. You will
rarely hear an entire blues scale played or sung by any of the great blues
artists, you are more likely to hear phrases or riffs which are partial scales or
are phrases which contain notes from the blues scales.

Originally the term the blues scale was used to mean only the minor blues
scale, and people often just say “the blues scale” to mean what we can now
more specifically call the minor blues scale. This scale is often learnt first due
to its ease of use when playing over a blues sequence. The exact same minor
blues scale can be used over the entire sequence, so for example if playing a
blues in C, the C minor blues scale can be used over the chords C, F and G7
without any (or very few) “wrong” notes. This is not true of the major blues
scale.

With blues, the boundaries between major and minor are sometimes blurred. A
very simple approach would be to say you can play minor notes over major
chords, but not major notes over minor chords.

This is why the minor blues scale can be used over any sequence whether it’s
a major blues or a minor blues. For this reason we have presented the minor
blues scale notated over both major and minor key signatures, however the
notes are the same, as you will discover.

But the major blues scale needs more care: normally we would only play the
major blues scale when there is a major or dominant type chord.

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

Minor Blues Scale in Major Key

As well as the scales, we have shown the

three main chords of a major blues. These
are not in a sequence, they are just shown
lumped together in the first bar, merely to
show you that the same scale can fit all the
chords.

How well the scales fit is usually down to the

player’s experience, ears and taste. The only
way to learn this is to listen to good blues
players, transcribe and analyse what they do
and try stuff out for yourself. Your experience
and your ears will be your guide.

The good news, as mentioned above, is that

the same scale is usually OK over all the
chords, so it’s hard to play anything that
sounds bad. The bad news is that this
approach can sound bland.

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

& 44 œ bœ ˙ œ b œ œ bœ bbbbb
C7 ( F7 G7 )

œ bœ œ # œ œ bœ ˙
D b7 (G b7 A b7 )
b
& b bbb œ b œ œ n œ œ bœ ˙ œ bœ œ nœ œ bœ ˙ n n n n n ##

##D7 (G7 nn bb
& œ nœ œ #œ œ n œ ˙ œ n œ œ bœ
A7 )
œ nœ ˙ b
b ( b b )
#
b
& b b œ bœ œ n œ œ b œ
˙ œ bœ œ n n n ## #
E7 A7 B7
nœ œ bœ ˙

####E7 ( A7 B7 )
œ nœ ˙ œ n œ œ bœ nnnn b
& œ n œ œ # œ œ nœ ˙
(B b7
œ bœ ˙ œ bœ œ bœ #
n ## ###
F7 C7 )
& b œ bœ œ n œ œ bœ ˙

#### #F 7 (B7œ # œC 7 ) œ n œ ˙ nnnnn #

# #
œ nœ œ nœ œ nœ ˙
& # œ nœ

# G7 b œ( C7œ # œD7 ) œ n œ ˙ œ n œ œ bœ
œ bœ ˙ n bb b
& œ b

A b7 (C #7 E b7 ) bœ ˙ œ bœ œ n œ #
b b
&bb œ b œ œ n œ œ œ bœ ˙ n n n n ##

### A7 n œ(D7œ # œE7 ) œ n œ ˙ œ n œ œ bœ

œ nœ ˙ nnn bb
& œ
B b7 F7 ) œ b œ ˙
( E b7 œ bœ œ bœ #
b
&b œ
b œ œ n œ œ bœ ˙ n n ## ##

####B7œ n œ( E7œ # œF 7 ) œ n œ ˙ œ nœ œ nœ nnnn bb

#
œ nœ ˙
& # n b

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

Minor Blues Scale in Minor Key

This is exactly the same scale as above. The

only difference you will see is that some of
the notes, instead of being flattened
compared to the major key signature, are
already flat as those notes are already part of
the minor key and so shown in the signature.

If this does not make immediate sense, don’t

worry, it will become clear as you study a bit
more music theory.

So you don’t need to learn these separately,

they are included here just to show you how
the scale can fit a minor blues form.

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

#
b
œ œ ˙ œ œ œ bœ n n n ## #
Cm Fm7 G7
&bb
( )

œ œ œ # œ œ œ ˙

###C# m ( F m7 G 7 ) œ ˙ nnnn b
# # #
& œ œ œ œ nœ
œ œ œ ‹œ œ œ ˙

œ ˙ œ œ œ bœ bbbbbb
Dm (Gm7 A7 )
&bœ œ œ #œ œ œ œ ˙
b ( b b )
b
& b b bb œ œ œ n œ œ œ
b ˙ œ œ œ nnnnnn #
Em A m7 B 7
nœ œ œ ˙

# Em ( Am7 B7 ) œ œ ˙ œ œ œ bœ n bb b
& œ œ œ #œ œ œ ˙ b
(B bm7
œ ˙ œ œ œ bœ #
b b œ n n n n ##
Fm C7 )
& b b œ œ œ n œ œ œ ˙

### F m ( Bm7 nnn bb

# #
œ #
C7)
œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ nœ œ œ ˙
& œ œ

bb œ
Gm ( Cm7
œ # œ
D7 )
œ œ ˙ œ œ œ bœ
œ œ ˙ #
n n ## ##
& œ

####G m œ( C œm7 ‹œD 7 ) œ œ ˙ œ œ œ nœ nnnn

# # #
& #œ œ œ ˙ n

œ œ ˙ œ œ œ bœ
œ œ #œ œ œ bbbbb
Am ( Dm7 E7 )
& œ ˙

B bm F7 ) œ œ ˙
( E bm7 œ œ œ bœ
b b
&bbb œ
œ œ n œ œ œ ˙ n n n n n ##

## Bœm œ( Em7
œ # œF 7 œ
#
œ ˙ œ œ œ nœ œ nn
œ ˙
)
&

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

Major Blues Scale

As mentioned above, just playing a minor blues scale is a sort of quickstart

approach to playing the blues, and can fit over the whole sequence. It’s great
for absolute beginners to get started and gain some confidence but it can get
a bit tedious.

The minor scales and chord tones often work played over major as these are
what we call blue notes. The dissonance is a good thing, it adds a lot of
bluesy flavour. But to make your playing more interesting, it’s better not to
overdo the blue note flavour so often we mix in phrases derived from the
major blues scale. Knowing when to to this does require a bit more theory,
which we will look at in part 2.

For now, you need to know that the major blues scale needs to fit each chord
as opposed to the whole chord sequence, so if you tried to play a C major
blues scale over an entire blues in C, there would probably be some bad
sounding wrong notes. (As opposed to OK or good sounding “wrong notes”).

I have shown the appropriate chord for each scale as a dominant 7 type
chord, although these could also just be simple triads (e.g. C instead of C7).

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

˙ œ bbbbb
C7
& œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ
œ ˙
D b7
b
& b bbb œ œ n œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ
œ bœ œ ˙ n n n n n ##

#D# 7 œ ˙ œ œ œ nn bb
& œ œ nœ #œ œ œ nœ œ ˙ b
b
#
b œ œ ˙ œ œ œ n n n ## #
E7
& b b œ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ ˙

####E7 œ œ ˙ œ œ œ nnnn b
& œ œ nœ #œ œ nœ œ ˙

œ œ ˙ œ œ œ #
n ## ###
F7
& b œ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ ˙

#### # F 7 nnnnn #
#
& # œ œ nœ #œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ
œ nœ œ ˙

#G 7 œ œ ˙ œ œ œ n bb b
& œ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ ˙ b

œ œ ˙ œ œ œ #
b
b b
& b b œ œ nœ œ œ bœ œ ˙ n n n n ##
A7

### A7 œ n œ # œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ
œ nœ œ ˙ nnn bb
& œ

b B b7
bœ n œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ
œ bœ œ ˙ #
n n ## ##
&b œ œ

####B7œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ
& # œ nœ #œ œ nœ œ ˙

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Blues & Pentatonic Scales © 2012 Pete Thomas

Any Questions?

Please visit the forum for answers:

CafeSaxophone.com

More Blues lessons and info:

TamingTheSaxophone.com

Lucky Peterson, photo courtesy of Magicludovic

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