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Scale Flavors

 
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SleepySamSlim



Joined: 06 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:54 pm    Post subject: Scale Flavors Reply with quote
As I try re-train my brain and fingers after many years of not playing, I want to try and get a grip what I see as two common scale keys.

While obviously you can play blues / jazzy blues in many scales I see the key of Am pentatonic used in lot of books and web sites. Here at vision music I see Mark focusing on the key of C in pentatonic and other scales.

Somewhere in all my surfing I came across a comment that indicated that soloing or riffing in Am gives a more edgy "hard blues" sound - whereas using C has a more jazzy or sweeter sound. Is there any truth to this comment ?

And certainly playing (blues) in the key of C puts you in the C - F - G progression. And C7 - F7 - G7 seem to be very common in the Jazz world
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Gorecki
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Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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Location: Glenwood, MD
PostPosted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:23 pm    Post subject: Re: Scale flavors Reply with quote
SleepySamSlim wrote:
As I try re-train my brain and fingers after many years of not playing, I want to try and get a grip what I see as two common scale keys.

While obviously you can play blues / jazzy blues in many scales I see the key of Am pentatonic used in lot of books and web sites. Here at vision music I see Mark focusing on the key of C in pentatonic and other scales.


Not exacty sure if you realize the two 'scales' are the same. C pentatonic is the exact same notes as Am pentatonic. Wink

Quote:

And certainly playing (blues) in the key of C puts you in the C - F - G progression. And C7 - F7 - G7 seem to be very common in the Jazz world


Actually the C-F-G is nothing more than a 1-4-5, the foundation of rock and is not blues. People play Am pentatonic over this and it sounds 'bluesy' but the more experienced you become, the more you'll realize it's cheap. C7-F7-G7 is more the foundation of a '12 bar blues' and IS blues and the gateway to jazz. These Dom7's are simple but massively open, allowing a player to go many directions.....master this and you'll be well on your way to understanding what blues and jazz really are! Wink
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Mark
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Joined: 26 Feb 2007
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Location: Portland, OR
PostPosted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:23 pm    Post subject: Re: Scale Flavors Reply with quote
Gorecki wrote:
C7-F7-G7 is more the foundation of a '12 bar blues' and IS blues and the gateway to jazz. These Dom7's are simple but massively open, allowing a player to go many directions.....master this and you'll be well on your way to understanding what blues and jazz really are! Wink


Brian,

Excellent re-definition of the essence of blues. And you're absolutely right about 7ths being "massively open." I mean, I love and never tire of using the "just add water" pentatonic and blues scales, but there is SO much more to the blues spectrum than those harmonic choices.

Scales simply don't cut it for me in achieving that broader goal, because I have yet to find a scale formula that captures the major (motion between the minor and major 3rds) or dominant (add the b7) blues personalities. In both of these instances, thinking in terms of scales instead of sounds is too limiting, because you always end up with certain notes that you aren't supposed to play. Great language from great blues and jazz players suggest otherwise. Scales are good to know, but relying on them can put you in a harmonic "prison" instead of providing creative freedom.

- Mark
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