Lesson 31 of 51Alto SaxophoneBeginner

The Mixolydian Scale in the Blues

1:41

Ollie Weston voices seventh chords - D7, G7 and A7 - over a 12-bar blues in D, using the Mixolydian scale to find the strong notes in each chord.

Part of the courseExploring Jazz Saxophone: Part 1 - Getting Started51 lessons (2h 9m)

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What's in the course

51 lessons (2h 9m) · 1 free
    • 01. Introducing the 7th Chord

      3:43

    • 02. Different Chord Types from the Root (Maj7/ 7 / Minor 7)

      2:18

    • 03. The Mixolydian Scale in the Blues

      You are here

      1:41

    • 04. 3rds and 7ths

      3:48

    • 05. Contrasting Major and Minor in the Blues

      2:16

    • 06. Sonny's Blues

      3:59

Lesson transcript

Expanding on the 12 Bar Blues: Seventh Chords

In our lesson on the 12 Bar Blues, I introduced the concept of root movement within a blues. Now, we will expand on that by adding seventh chords on each of those roots.

Review of Our Progress

  • We started with a blues in D.
  • We discussed chords one, four, and five.

Seventh Chords in 12 Bar Blues

Instead of just playing the roots each time, we will voice a seventh chord on top of each of those. Here are the sounds of the seventh chords in a 12 bar blues format:

  • Chord One: D7
  • Chord Four: G7
  • Chord Five: A7

Chord Progression:

  1. Start with D7 (Chord One)
  2. Move to G7 (Chord Four)
  3. Back to D7 (Chord One)
  4. Then to A7 (Chord Five)
  5. Back to G7 (Chord Four)
  6. Return to D7 (Chord One)

We will look at these with a backing track and play some of the strong sounds within these seventh chords in the context of a 12 bar blues.

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Meet your guru

Ollie Weston

Ollie Weston

Since graduating from the Leeds College of Music (BA Hons) and the Guildhall School of Music (Post Graduate Diploma in Performance), Ollie has built a busy and varied career in music. As a saxophonist he has performed in live and studio settings with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Tim Minchin, Bonobo, Frank Turner, the London Jazz Orchestra, the Hackney Colliery Band, the Ambient Jazz Ensemble and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He is also the co-leader of the jazz quartet 'Time Is Of The Essence', and composes and arranges material for this and other ensembles.

Ollie is active in music education, currently as course leader for the jazz department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (junior school), where he runs jazz ensembles, big band and theory classes. He has written a series of 'Exploring Jazz' books for Schott Music that are published worldwide and feature on exam syllabuses in the UK. Ollie has also run workshops for Oxford University, Pro Corda Strings and BABSWE, as well as the Guildhall School of Music summer schools.

In his Exploring Jazz Saxophone courses, Ollie takes you from getting started right through to soloing confidently over songs and chord sequences, building the improvising skills that put a real jazz player's vocabulary at your fingertips.

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