La gamme blues

Understanding the Minor Pentatonic Scale and the Blue Fifth

So countless tunes have been written using the minor pentatonic scale with just five notes. Check out the PDF for some examples.

Another very common addition to the five-note scale is the blue fifth or the flattened fifth. This is often used as an embellishment in the melody, and you heard me do it in the solo over Rootless Blues as well.

The G Blues Scale

If you put the C sharp (or flat 5, D flat if you like) in the G blues scale, the minor pentatonic, we get a six-note scale.

• Notice how the C sharp divides the scale into two halves:
  • This part
  • This part

There's a symmetry, and then the C sharp, followed by the bottom three notes.

Usage of C Sharp

Some people always play the C sharp when they play the blues scale. In my view, it's overused. It's really just an optional extra to the minor pentatonic.

Melodies Beyond Blues

Many melodies, not just blues melodies, use this scale as well. For instance, whether it's minor pentatonic or the full scale with the B5, Summertime and Moanin' are two tunes which are not blues, but which nevertheless have this blues tonality.

Resolving the B Note

The B note normally resolves up or down, for instance, or up. So you don't really want to land on it by itself.

• If you play this C sharp with G7, it sounds a bit out.
• If you play it with C7 or C9, it doesn't sound great either.

Remember, the B is not in any of the chords.

Importance of Chord Tones

Just remember as well that the third of the chord is a really important note. If you always play the blues scale, you won't be playing:

• A G7 with a B
• An E, which is the third of the C chord
• An F sharp, which is the third of the D chord

It's a shame not to play those notes; they are really important. But if you just play the blues scale like we did in Rootless Blues, you will never actually play those notes.