I find that I’m struggling with ‘key signature’ in Boogie Woogie. My classical training has trained my brain to ‘see’ the key I’m in when I’m playing. If you ask me to play in the key of ‘D’ I can easily see F# and C# and what the scale/chords/arpeggios look like on the keyboard. When I think of blues scales I draw a blank. I can play them and I’m working on practicing the ‘three finger’ scale in all the keys. But, often I have to meticulously think ‘Ok, if the blues scale in ‘A’ is 1 ½ step, 1 step, 1 step, …then if I apply that to ‘B’ 1 ½ step is… . Painful. And then you throw in the flat fifth and then there’s other ‘grace’ notes that get mixed in there and it seems to be full of accidentals and AHHH!!
I could think Intervals: 1, b3, 4, 5, b7 OR Semi-notes: 3 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 2 OR Formula: Whole and a half, Whole, Whole, Whole and a half, Whole
Sure it’s a Pentatonic scale but a classical ‘long hair’ rarely used it. I can try to think of it as a major scale without the 4th and 7th notes but… . Even writing about this is a headache. I expect I’m just heading for a paradigm shift of some sort but I don’t know how to get there.
I know…I’m making no sense and there’s probably going to be a ‘DAH’ moment rather than a paradigm shift coming up.
Is there a way to get my brain to think and see pentatonic/blues ‘key’? Is there a practice regime or good blues scale book that helps with the visual input or…???
Thanks for lending an ear/eye and probably some fingers.
Thanks for this question Scooter! You are not alone in being confused by this. To say that a blues song is "In the key of..." is somewhat deceptive. That information only tells you what the I chord is (and therefore what the IV and V chords are as well).
A blues song in the key of G means that the I chord is G, the IV is C, and the V is D. That's it.
Each of those chord changes assumes a new key signature. So, when you play on the I chord (G7) you will use notes of a G major scale with a flatted 7th (F natural) - so essentially you are playing a C major scale. This is known as a mixolydian mode (playing a C major scale from G to G instead of starting on C and going to the next C).
When you go to the IV chord, you will be playing in C7 (or F major scale).
When you go to the V chord, you will be playing in D7 (or G major scale).
The "Minor Blues scale" (what many people simply call the "blues scale") is only used for melodic content, NOT harmonic content. It doesn't really belong to any of the chords and therefore can be used over all of them. Therefore, the G minor blues scale can be used to play over G7, C7, or D7, with varying degrees of tension. It does not contain the major third of any of those chords, and so you cannot tell which chord change you are playing simply by listening to the scale.
this is why i always advise students to learn licks and chords first, THEN worry about using the blues scale. Because it works over all the changes, it can be tempting to overuse it, which is tiresome to listen to.. the licks and chords all contain the important chord tones of each chord change (like the major 3rd) and thus make it sound like you are playing the changes - and they provide relief from the minor blues scale sound when mixed with it.
As I am writing this I am realizing that these are simple concepts but surprisingly difficult to spell out clearly through text! I will try to address this at the next Office Hours (#21) on Sunday.
Great question though!