There are several “blues scales” in music, but maybe the best known is made by taking a minor pentatonic scale and adding one blue note between the third and fourth note.
Here’s how a minor pentatonic sounds like:
And here the “blue note” is added, giving us the six-note blues scale:
Straight rock
At my ears, when played in a straight rhythm like in the previous example, the blues scale recalls straightforward energy and power; in a word, rock!
That’s how, after some nights of improvisations, the blues scale turned into a melody:
Played by a hammond organ and backed by a classic rock rhythm that theme became Geronimo.
Swinging the blues
If you play the same scale with a swing rhythm, you get something like this:
The swing rhythm gives, according to my taste, a more graceful, sexy and charming mood to the same scale. I tried to convey this feeling with this short theme:
I gave the theme to an old Electra Piano, added an organ, an upright bass and a drum kit played with brushes, and Marilyn was born:
That’s how the tracks number 3 and 4 of my “Moods and Modes” project were made. I’d really love to know what you think about it.
Thanks for reading!
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Stay tuned for the next releases! Coming next: major and minor “pentascales” (something only the piano players will know).