Re: [Harp-L] Blues plus



One possibility is using blues scales derived from the 4th and fifth degrees of the scale. I mean the six-note blues scale that goes 1 -b3 - 4 - b5 - 5 - b7. You can build that scale starting on the 1st degree of the scale. Starting on the 5th degree has a slightly floating feeling, while starting on the 4th degree has a dark bitter-to-spit out kind of feel.

C blues scale: C Eb F Gb G Bb


G blues scale: G Bb D Db D F


F blues scale: F Ab Bb B C Eb


Another possibility is the scale often called the Lydian dominant. If you start with a major scale, you raise the 4th degree (the Lydian part) and lower the 7th (the dominant part): C D E F# G A Bb


These scales give your relatively tame bits of outsideness.

Slightly less tame:

Diminished scale second mode. Learn the 8-note diminished scale one semitone above the tonic note of the tune (for a tune in C, learn the D-flat diminished scale). Then use that scale (the D-flat diminished against a C chord):

C Db Eb E F# G A Bb. This goes nicely with a 7th chord with an added 9th that's either raised or lowered.


Whole tone scale: use the whole tone scale that has the same root as the chord (C wholetone for a C7 chord)

Altered dominant scale. This scale has everything except the tonic note lowered by a semitone when compared to a major scale. For instance:

C Db Eb Fb (yes!) Gb Ab Bb

It's actually a Db melodic minor scale, ascending form. This is a dark but very beautiful scale that is best played with an altered chord (e.g., containing these notes, in this ascending order: C Fb Bb Eb Ab Db Gb)


Winslow

 
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________________________________
 From: Music Cal <macaroni9999@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-L list <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 4:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Blues plus
 
Hi Gnarly, Smo-joe, and Winlsow

I thinking the musical expression of this elusive feeling is more than just
one note. I think it's something akin to using the blues scale. But the
ill-defined sound and feeling I am looking for strikes me as being slightly
more "outside" than the blues scale. But not a lot.

Do you have any suggestions for jazz blues players and specific recordings
of them that tend to play just a wee bit "outside" on the blues? Maybe I
will recognize the sound if I hear it in another player's work if they
aren't pushing the "outside" envelop too much and overwhelming my ears.


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