VI. Jazz
Blues melodies and the blues scale
Megan Lavengood
Key Takeaways
- Blues songs are often texted, and the lyrics consist of a lyric line which gets repeated, then followed by a contrasting line (aab). Melodies often follow this structure.
- Blues melodies often leave large gaps to allow for call and response between the melodic instrument and other instruments.\
- The blues scale is like a minor pentatonic scale with an additional chromatic passing tone: do–me–fa–fi–sol–te [latex](\hat1-\flat\hat3-\hat4-\sharp\hat4-\hat5-\flat\hat7)[/latex].
- The blues scale can be rotated to begin on its second note, create a major blues scale: do–re–ri–mi–sol–la [latex](\hat1-\hat2-\sharp\hat2-\hat3-\hat5-\hat6)[/latex].
This chapter discusses some of the trends in blues melodies that shaped the blues as we know it today. As an example, this text will focus on one of the earliest recorded blues songs, “Gulf Coast Blues” by Clarence Williams, as recorded by the enormously commercially successful blues singer Bessie Smith in 1923.
Example 1. “Gulf Coast Blues” (1923), recording by Bessie Smith and Clarence Williams.
Phrase and lyric structure
Much blues music is sung, and so lyrics play an important role in this genre. The four-bar phrases that make up the 12-bar blues are commonly matched with lyrics that have an aab structure: the first line is stated and then repeated (sometimes with some alteration), and the third line contrasts. “Gulf Coast Blues” by Clarence Williams (1923) is one example of this (Example 2). This does not happen in “Gulf Coast Blues,” but often, the repeated lyric will be set to a repeated melody, mimicking the aab structure in the music as well.
| structure | lyric |
|---|---|
| a | The man I love, he has done left this town |
| a | The man I love, he has done left this town |
| b | And if it keeps on raining, I will be Gulf Coast bound. |
Example 2. Lyrics of “Gulf Coast Blues” by Clarence Williams.
Another essential part of blues phrase structure is the notion of , a feature likely inherited from the work songs of enslaved Africans and African Americans. The vocal, lyricized melody takes on the role of the “call” while an instrumental filler takes on the role of the “response.” Notice that in “Gulf Coast Blues,” each lyric labelled with an a is sung entirely and exclusively in the first two measures. Example 3 annotates a transcription of “Gulf Coast Blues” to show this call-and-response relationship.
Example 3. Call-and-response in the melody of “Gulf Coast Blues.”
The blues scale
Much as the harmonies of the blues don’t tend to stick to one diatonic key, flouting the norms of tonal music, the melodies are similarly chromatic to match. The blues scale, notated in the upper staff of Example 4, attempts to generalize blues melodic practice into a scale on which beginning improvisers can base their melodies. The blues scale is essentially a with an added chromatic passing tone leading up to sol [latex](\hat5)[/latex].
Example 4. The C blues scale creates stylistic clashes with the I and V chords of C major.
Despite the clashes with the underlying harmony, this blues scale is used in blues tunes that are major or minor. When combined with the chords of the major blues—I, V, and IV, or C major, F major, and G major in the key of C—this creates characteristic clashes, especially between mi/me [latex](\hat3/\flat\hat3)[/latex] and ti/te [latex](\hat7/\flat\hat7)[/latex].
These clashes often produce —notes that are not really flat or natural, but somewhere in between. Blue notes seem to split the difference between mi/me [latex](\hat3/\flat\hat3)[/latex] or ti/te [latex](\hat7/\flat\hat7)[/latex].
The “major” blues scale
Some improvisers find it helpful to think of a major blues scale. The difference between a and is identical the difference between the major and minor blues scale: the major blues scale is a rotation of the blues scale of its relative minor. Begin the blues scale on me [latex](\flat\hat3)[/latex], and you will get a blues scale for the relative major. The relationships are summarized in Example 5.
Example 5. Rotating the blues scale to begin on its second note yields the major blues scale.
The major blues scale is less dissonant with major chords. When improvising, it can be helpful to think of improvising with the major blues scale over major chords of the blues progression. But remember that using the blues scale (with flatted 3rds and 7ths) over major chords is also a perfectly normal practice.
- Blues scales worksheet (.pdf, .mscz). Asks students to spell scales and transcribe a melody that uses the blues scale. Worksheet playlist
- Improvising with the blues scale (.pdf, .mscz). Video assignment. Asks students to pair off and create videos with call-and-response improvisation. Backing track available here.
- Blues composition (.pdf, .docx). Asks students to synthesize information about blues harmony and blues melody.
A feature of musical phrasing that features a simulated dialogue between two instruments or groups of instruments.
A pentatonic scale with the intervals m3–M2–M2–m3–M2. For example, starting on A, the minor pentatonic would be A-C-D-E-G.
Notes whose exact pitch sounds somewhere between the flat and regular versions a scale degree, particularly scale-degree 3 and 7.
A scale that proceeds M2–M2–m3–M2–m3. For example, starting on C, the C major pentatonic scale is C–D–E–G–A.
