[Harp-L] Re: Blues scale vs. Pentatonic scale

[George Brooks <gbrooksvt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Will and Harp-L-

First Will, you're entirely welcome.  For all of you who don't know 
him, Will can sustain the 1 OB all day, can sing his a$$ off, and can 
shout down ten ordinary men.  Plus the dirty blues he sang at one of 
the circle jams was a gem of the genre.  I don't have an answer as to 
what to call the scale that you call the major blues scale in your post 
and which you spelled:  C D Eb  E D A C.   Did you mean to have a G in 
the place of the second D?  Michael Peloquin just posted about this 
scale as follows:

==================================================

For my esteemed colleague Mr Brooks-
There is more than one "blues" scale. The one that I will divulge, free 
of
charge to y'all is this one:
More of a major sound, very ueful in R & B, Pop, Country, Swing Blues
Over a C, C7, C6:

C D Eb E G A C

1 b3 3 5 6 1

====================================================

Possibly Michael will also divulge the name of this scale.  I was 
unfamiliar with it and do not have a name for it.  In any case, I stand 
corrected.  Saying the blues scale is apparently not enough to describe 
s specific scale.  It leaves the question "which one?"

I would, in every instance I can conceive of, defer to MP in matters of 
theory.   I am puzzled, though.  The scale as written by MP starts on C 
and has a D.  Isn't the D the "2" (second degree) or, alternatively, 
the "9"?  Using numbers to show how the scale is constructed (1 b3 3 5 
6 1), Michael has the root, the flat 3 and the 3, 5, 6, and 1 (octave), 
but no 2 or 9.  The numbers do not seem to match the scale as spelled 
with letters.  I would like to understand this better.  Where did I 
slip off the rails?

GB



On Oct 31, 2007, at 6:39 AM, Will Vogtman wrote:

> First of all, thanks for your help in Denver!  I had a great time and 
> learned years worth of material in days.
>  
> Second of all, a question.
>  
> I've used two forms of what I incorectly label as major and minor 
> blues scales based upon the major and minor pentatonic scales.
>  
> Major Pentatonic in C
>  
> C D E D A C
>  
> Minor Pentatonic
>  
> C Eb F G Bb C   (just to stick with flats)
>  
> Major Blues in C
>  
> C D Eb  E D A C
>  
> Minor Blues
>  
> C Eb F Gb G Bb C   (just to stick with flats)
>  
> I've asked similar questions on this list before.  I'm interested in 
> your opinion on a naming scheme for these scales.   I invented these 
> two names for myself--just to have a place to put them in my brain.
>  
> Thanks,
> Will
>  
>
>
> George Brooks <gbrooksvt@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > A Minor pentatonic:
> > >
> > > A C D E G
> >
> > Yes.
> >
> > > A Minor blues scale:
> > >
> > > A C D Db E G A
> >
> > Not exactly. While there is both a major pentatonic scale and a minor
> > pentatonic scale, the blues scale is always a minor scale (flat 3rd
> > degree and flat 7th degree), so there is no such thing, strictly
> > speaking, as the "minor blues scale." It is simply the blues scale.
> > The blues scale starting on A is spelled:
> >
> > A C D D# E G
> >
> > or, alternatively:
> >
> > A C D Eb E G
> >
> > The blues scale starting on C is spelled:
> >
> > C Eb F F# G Bb
> >
> > I hope this helps.
> >
> > GB
> >
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