The course › Unit 10: Play, improvise, create
Lesson 56 of 72 · Twelve measures, three chords and a scale with attitude
The blues was born in the late 19th century in the southern United States, among African Americans. Its most famous form fits into 12 measures and three chords: I, IV and V. In C: C, F and G.
In the blues, the three chords are often seventh chords: you add a fourth note, a minor third above the fifth. You know G7 (G – B – D – F). In the same way, C7 = C – E – G – B♭ and F7 = F – A – C – E♭. That seventh gives the blues its very special color.
Did you know?: Rock’n’roll came straight out of this chart: Johnny B. Goode, Hound Dog and Rock Around the Clock all follow the 12-bar blues.
Play the notes of the chord together, in any order and octave you like. For a seventh chord, add a minor third above the fifth.
The boogie bass: on each chord, the left hand climbs root – third – fifth – sixth (C – E – G – A), fingers 5-3-2-1. Same pattern on F and on G: only the starting note changes. The computer answers with chords on beats 2 and 4. 12 measures: C C C C | F F C C | G F C G.
Blues melodies use a six-note scale: the blues scale. In C: C – E♭ – F – F♯ – G – B♭, then C.
Its most famous note is the F♯: the “blue note,” which grinds deliciously between F and G. You don’t stop on it: you pass through it to slide up to G.
The C blues scale. In orange, the “blue note.”
Its intervals: minor third, whole step, half step, half step, minor third, whole step. Going up, you write F♯; coming down, you often write G♭: it’s the same key!
Tip: In sung blues, a verse often follows an AAB form: a 4-measure phrase, the same phrase again, then a phrase that answers it. Think like a singer: short phrases, repeated notes, and room to breathe.
Right hand. Fingering: 1-2-3-4, the thumb passes under 4 for the G, then 3 and 4. Coming down, 4 crosses over the thumb. Measure 3: the E♭ – F – F♯ – G slide, typical of the blues.
In the blues, musicians answer each other: the computer plays a short phrase (a “lick”), and you play it back. The first note lights up; all the notes are in the blues scale.
The computer plays the chart three times: boogie bass and chords. Improvise with your right hand using the blues scale: short phrases, rests, repeated notes. Try starting a phrase with each new chord… and ending on C.
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