Blues scales

[Neil Haverstick, TD 169.5]
> ... As a matter of fact, I routinely use (in the key of C)
> the E, D, and A

About 15 years ago, when I had been trained as a classical
composer and was trying to learn how to do blues properly,
I found the following book to be a revelation:

Richard P. Daniels, 1979
_The Heavy Guitar Bible: a Rock Guitar Manual_
Cherry Lane Music, Port Chester.

In it, Daniels describes how guitarists think of the blues
scale in terms of two different versions of what I'll call
the 'minor' pentatonic: a 'basic' and a 'relative':

[Key of C]

Basic: C - Eb - F - G - Bb (- C)

Relative: A - C - D - E - G (- A)

He outlines how the basic scale is (obviously, by its name) used
as the basis of improvising/riffing, and how the relative may
be either used instead, or blended in. Fascinating stuff.

According to my ears, this is a very accurate version of
descriptive blues theory. Great solos I've known seem to
use this technique, employing the 'relative' as a way to
bring in a 'major' feel to the blues. If you re-arrange
the 'relative' scale listed above so that it's 'root'
remains on 'C', you get the 'major' pentatonic scale:

C - D - E - G - A

And the art of making great blues riffs is to some extent
the performer's mastery at being able to introduce these
'foreign' 'major' elements into the overall 'minor' sound
of the blues.

Of course, another aspect of that mastery in the blues is the performer's
ability with microtonal inflection.

Joseph L. Monzo monz@juno.com
http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/homepage.html
|"...I had broken thru the lattice barrier..."|
| - Erv Wilson |
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In response to Neil Haverstick's excellent post on this topic
Joe Monzo wrote:

>Richard P. Daniels, 1979
>_The Heavy Guitar Bible: a Rock Guitar Manual_
>Cherry Lane Music, Port Chester.
>
>In it, Daniels describes how guitarists think of the blues
>scale in terms of two different versions of what I'll call
>the 'minor' pentatonic: a 'basic' and a 'relative':
>
>[Key of C]
>
>Basic: C - Eb - F - G - Bb (- C)
>
>Relative: A - C - D - E - G (- A)

This tidy theory appears to suffer from a similar defect to Paul Hahn's
otherwise tidy theory, namely it leaves out an important note.

What happened to the bV, i.e. the F#/Gb?

Apparently (from Neil Haverstick and others) the minimal C blues scale is
the abovementioned pentatonic, and additional notes are added in
approximately the following order of decreasing popularity, Gb, E,D,A,
B,Ab,Db. The gaps are significant, since the Gb is "almost always" and the
(B,Ab,Db) are "hardly ever".

It seems it's the addition of the F#/Gb, not a fifth, fourth or major
third, from anything, that makes it obviously Blues rather than just a
subset of a zillion other possible scales. And it may be only the continued
presence of this note that stops the addition of further notes from being
heard as a modulation.

It is interesting that Neil spells the note as F# despite also referring to
it as the bV and despite Paul Erlich previously spelling it Gb. Gb makes
more sense to me, because of the C-Eb-Gb diminished chord. What chords
would spell it F#?

Regards,
-- Dave Keenan
http://dkeenan.com

Here's an octatonic extended blues scale (in C), fitted to some 7-limit JI
lattices. Possibly a terrible thing to do in real life, but instructive I
think. Only one note changes pitch between succesive lattices. For
hexatonic just drop the A and E.

A---------E
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
F---------C---------G
|\ / \
| \ / \
Gb \ / \
`.\ / \
Eb--------Bb

A---------E
/ \ /|\
/ \ / | \
/ \ / Bb \
/ \ /,'/ `.\
F---------C--/------G
|\/ /
|/\ /
Gb \ /
`.\ /
Eb

A---------E
/|\ /|\
/ | \ / | \
/ Eb--------Bb \
/,' \`.\ /,'/ `.\
F------\--C--/------G
\ | /
\|/
Gb

A---------E
/|\`. ,'/|\
/ | \ Gb / | \
/ Eb--------Bb \
/,' `.\|/,' `.\
F---------C---------G

G
,'/ \`.
A--/---\--E
/|\/. ,\/|
/ |/\ Gb /\|
/ Eb--------Bb
/,' `.\|/,'
F---------C

We see Bb, Eb and G shift by a septimal quarter-tone (36/35 or 48.8c) and
Gb shifts by 50/49 or 35.0c, so there's gonna be a lotta bending to make
these all work "simultaneously".

Notice I've ignored Bb-F as a fifth, since it is bare, i.e. forms no
obvious chords. If D were added, that would change.

It's possible that there is a temperament that gives all of these with a
maximum error which is less than that of 12-tET (31 cents), but it will not
be less than 24.4 cents since we must approximate 5:6 and 6:7 by the same
interval. Hardly seems worth the trouble. Even with the Bb-F as a free
variable, it seems likely that 12-tET is still the optimum temperament,
unless one also ignores one of the two possible Gb's.

Regards,
-- Dave Keenan
http://dkeenan.com

Dave Keenan wrote:

>Joe Monzo wrote:
>
>>Richard P. Daniels, 1979
>>_The Heavy Guitar Bible: a Rock Guitar Manual_
>>Cherry Lane Music, Port Chester.
>>
>>In it, Daniels describes how guitarists think of the blues
>>scale in terms of two different versions of what I'll call
>>the 'minor' pentatonic: a 'basic' and a 'relative':
>>
>>[Key of C]
>>
>>Basic: C - Eb - F - G - Bb (- C)
>>
>>Relative: A - C - D - E - G (- A)
>
>This tidy theory appears to suffer from a similar defect to Paul Hahn's
>otherwise tidy theory, namely it leaves out an important note.
>
>What happened to the bV, i.e. the F#/Gb?

Actually, Daniels' theory is far more related to how the blues actually
works than Hahn's. In the blues, besides the so-called "blues scale", one
often uses the major pentatonic, but rarely for the whole song (outside of
country music) -- more often one alternates passages of major pentatonic
with ones in the minor pentatonic or blues scale.

>It is interesting that Neil spells the note as F# despite also referring to
>it as the bV and despite Paul Erlich previously spelling it Gb. Gb makes
>more sense to me, because of the C-Eb-Gb diminished chord. What chords
>would spell it F#?

Chords are not constructed from the blues scale. It is a purely melodic
scale. The chords used under the blues scale are usually major or dominant
seventh chords. Gb might occur as the seventh of an Ab7 chord in a C minor
blues, but much more commonly it is a non-harmonic tone.

A final note: Just because certain scales have been given the names "blues
scale" and "bebop scale" doesn't mean those scales are necessary or
sufficient conditions for the style after which they are named. I'm pretty
sure the same is true of Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, . . . scales, even if one
reverts to the original Greek nomenclature. I was thinking the other day
that I could rename some of my decatonic scales, such as "Standard
Pentachordal Minor," and call them Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York,
Maryland . . .