Guitar Styles: The Blues - part 1 (IV-V-I progression, "blues scales")

How The Blues Stole Music Theory

Although I LOVE the blues with ALL my heart, I have to tell this story. I think the blues is to blame for the downward trend in musical education, particularly for guitarists. A few things to note before reading on:

1. A lot of old blues players had little to no knowledge of theory, and that's fine. Don't ever judge someone as a musician based on how many big words they know. Artists create art, they're technique is more important than their theory.
2.  We do use theory to analyze music. When this strange form of music came about called the blues, composers, performers, and anyone who was interested in this music and had any sort of knowledge of theory, used theory to replicate it. You hear someone playing something strange that you enjoy and that you think could be a new, powerfully influential style of music. What do you do? Figure out through the science of music (theory) how that sound sounds the way it sounds, and make more of it.
3. I'm going to use theory as the language of music in these lessons. Why? Because it is the only real language of music (along with notation, but notation doesn't work without theory). If you don't have a knowledge of theory, read my other series of lessons (Rhythm, Harmony, and Melody Properly Explored).
4. The blues ended up evolving into a more mature sound, and split into two directions: jazz and rock 'n' roll. Its also interesting to note that rock 'n' roll with more added blues became "rock." Yes there's a difference without the "roll." The blues should be studied by all guitarists who intend to play anything but classical and country, because the blues gave birth to all our modern styles of guitar playing.

So with these notes in mind, read on about how the blues stole music theory.

Classical composers have often been theorists as well. With each new, interesting composition, we understood more about sound, and why certain sounds make us feel certain ways. The first country musicians also often had at least a decent understanding of harmony. Many blues players lack knowledge of music theory. This would be fine if it weren't for the fact that following generations of blues players, who didn't know much more than the classics, often claimed to know everything there is to know. This resulted in a "dumbing down" of harmony and melody in the kids who just wanted to be a great blues or rock guitarist. Books have been published for years now proposing a "blues scale." The truth is, creating a new scale doesn't give you a new style. You're in a major key, use the major scale, and maybe some accidentals. You're in a minor key, use the minor scale, and maybe accidentals. That's how most music works. But certain accidentals became common in the blues and were given the name "blue notes." Blue notes were put together with common notes from the major scale used in blues, and the resulting set of notes was given the name "the blues scale." But there are a few different ideas out there to what "the blues scale" is exactly. The truth is it isn't worth arguing, because it isn't a theoretically purposeful scale in the first place. In the section of this lesson titled "blues scales" I'll talk about common blue notes and which notes of the diatonic scale are used most commonly in blues.

Now, on with the lesson.

Diatonic Function

Diatonic chords have certain functions and names.

I: Tonic

ii: Supertonic

iii: Mediant

IV: Subdominant

V: Dominant

vi: Submediant

vii0: Leading/Subtonic

Ever since classical music, the tonic, subdominant, and dominant have had a special purpose. The dominant, as discussed in my other series, leads well into the tonic. The subdominant is the same distance in pitch in the other direction, so it can create a sort of balance.

I-V-I-IV-I

The above progression is the most common progression in all music. In the blues, it is put into certain songforms such as the "12 bar blues" which will be discussed in following lessons.

The Blues Scale

Recall that the major scale has the scale degrees "1-2-3-4-5-6-7" and the minor is "1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7." With your understanding of intervals, I should be able to explain scales as numbers from now on and you should understand it. Here are two proposed "blues scales:"

1-b3-3-4-5-6-b7-7

1-b3-4-b5-5-b7

The latter is the scale often used by guitarists, simply the minor pentatonic scale with an added tritone. Tritone? Yes tritone, one of the most dissonant intervals out there. Sounds alright the way the blues guys play it, doesn't it?

Neither of these scales should be taken to seriously. They're more like tools to help you with accidentals/blue notes. The blue notes are b3, b5, and b7, in major key blues. That's one of the interesting features of the blues: the harmony can be clearly in a major key, but the melody could include the b3 and b7 accidentals as often as if it were a minor song.

I'm a fan of using all twelve notes in the blues, but you have to make up your own mind and find your own style and see if that's a good idea for yourself before you go around using whatever notes you want just because someone else on the internet does. Using notes outside the diatonic scale is called "chromaticism." In the lessons following this one, I'll teach you how to use chromaticism tastefully to achieve a good amount of color without completely losing consonance. By the end of this series you will be able to use all twelve notes over most blues situations, but you should choose on your own whether or not you want to.