The Blues
The Blues ... A catagory by itself
The Blues Mode pretty much stands all by itself. It can, depending on musical taste, be played over most any music. This will be the first incomplete mode.
Construction of the Blues mode
The Blues mode is essentially a pentatonic minor mode with the addition of a sharp 4th tone, the characteristic sound of the blues.
Compare the Blues mode above to the Pentatonic Minor below.
Next is the fingering for this mode.
Now we will look at the construction of this mode's scale degrees.
What is missing here? The 2nd degree and the 6th degree are both absent. As you can see from the Pentatonic Minor Mode above there are only five tones (Pentatonic) in that mode. The Blues Mode adds a sixth tone but it is not either the 2nd or the 6th but a sharp(#)4th, which gives the blues its characteristic sound, bluesy and funky. The dominant 7th (flat 7th tone) also contributes to the "bluesy and funky" feel of the blues mode.
The 12 bar blues in the key of A
Pattern One
| Bar: | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th |
| Chord Numeral: | I | IV | I | I | I | IV | I | I | V | IV | I | V |
| Chord | A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 | A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 | E7 | D7 | A7 | E7 |
Pattern Two
| Bar: | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th |
| Chord Numeral: | I | I | I | I7 | IV | IV | I | I | V | IV | I | I |
| Chord | A | A | A | A7 | D7 | D7 | A | A | E7 | D7 | A | A |
Pattern Three
| Bar: | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th |
| Chord Numeral: | I7 | I7/IV7 | I7 | I7 | IV7 | IV7 | I7 | I7 | V7 | IV7 | I7 | V7/I7 |
| Chord | A7 | A7/D7 | A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 | A7 | A7 | E7 | D7 | A7 | E7/A7 |
Let's use pattern three.
Pattern three starts out with an A7 chord as the one chord.
The notes in this blues mode are:
A C D D# E G A
Next we go to D7 (the IV chord). The notes in this blues mode
are:
D F G G# A C D
Next we go to E7 (the V chord). The notes in this blues mode
are:
E G A A# B D E
As you can see from the above there are many notes that are the same
in all the different modes.
A C D G
This is largely because the 2nd degree
and the 6th degree have been left out and these are all dominant 7th
chords. This makes it somewhat possible to get
by with using the same pattern for the I chord for all the other chords,
depending on your musical taste. This is especially true if you
avoid the #IV note on all but the I chord.
So for a twelve bar blues based on Pattern three:
We will start out on the fifth fret with the index finger
on the sixth string.
We could use this mode whenever we have a I chord.
Next in pattern three we have the option of playing
the IV chord for the second bar. This would be D7
in the key of A.
We will use a root 5/3 blues mode starting on the
5th fret on the 5th string D.
We could use this mode whenever we have a IV chord.
Next are two more bars of the I chord followed by
two bars of the IV chord followed by two more bars
of the I chord. Just use the appropiate
modes and also experiment some with just using
the A7 or I chord mode.
Next is one bar of the V chord or E7. Just move
the D7 mode up two frets and start it on the 7th
fret on the 5th string E.
This is followed by one bar of the IV chord and
then one bar of the I chord. Bar twelve can either
be the V chord or the one chord.
Record these chords slowly for as long as you like, the longer the better. Then practice improvising in the blues. This is a really free and funky sounding progression and a lot of fun to play.
Thanks for your attention and happy guitar playing.
Copyright © John Mericle 2000-2009 All Rights Reserved
Attention Blues Guitarists
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The Meeting of the Spirits
Valentine's day 1979, the original trio (Larry Coryell, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia) performed one of the most memorable concerts ever at the Royal Albert Hall in London. This unprecedented meeting of guitar virtuosos from very different musical backgrounds came together as one of the ultimate improvisational studies in history, second only to Miles Davis's Bitches Brew. The DVD of this concert "The Meeting of the Spirits" is available from Netflicks.