Piano Lesson: Using The Blues Scale
by: Capotasto
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We will use the key of G-major. The first chord to learn is a three finger chord for your left hand that is usually called G13. If we should stick to music theory too literally such a chord would consist of the following scale steps:
1 3 5 7b 9 11 13
In G-major this would be the notes:
G B D F A C E
That's theory, but the chord doesn't sound very nice actually! Normally you can keep the F, B and E. The root G will probably be played on a bass guitar or can just be omitted. Anyway, here is the G13 chord in a very common form:
G13: F3 B3 E4
The numbers indicate in which octave the notes are to be played. C4 is the so called middle C in the fourth octave.
I will now give you the blues scale. First only with the scale steps so you can apply the scale in any key:
1 3b 4 4# 5 7b
It can also be considered a G-minor pentatonic scale with a raised fourth added.
Here are the notes you can play and improvise upon as you hold the G13 chord with the left hand:
G4 Bb4 C5 C#5 D5 F5 G5
We will now take a look at the C9 chord. It is a fitting chord to change to from G13 and also easy to find:
C9: E3 Bb3 D4
It's time to construct a chord progression:
G13 / / / C9 / / /
The advantage of using the blues scale is that it can be used over many chords. We will now try to play a blues progression in G-major with this blues scale. We will need one more chord to construct a three chord blues. Here is the D9 chord:
D9: F#3 C4 D4
Now it's time to play the blues:
G13 / / / C9 / / / G13 / / / G13 / / /
C9 / / / C9 / / / G13 / / / G13 / / /
D9 / / / C9 / / / G13 / / / D9 / / /
Of course you can use notes in the blues scale higher up on the piano keyboard. However, an effective blues solo doesn't need a lot of notes. Try to use only a few notes and focus your energy on creating music.
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About the Author
Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free piano sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, music lessons and read his music blog at http://www.capotastomusic.com
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