Dictionary: A Blues Scale

When you add a diminished 5th note to the A minor pentatonic scale (the E-flat note, in this case), you now have the A blues scale.  Try it over A.  Any A.  You may like the results.

Jam Session 104j with A G D A; C D A (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104j:

• This is another guitar and piano/keyboard/MIDI controller combo.
• In Pro Tools, we use the Grand Piano (or was it Xpand?) plug-in.  In any case, it comes with the program.
  
• There are other piano plug-ins available commercially for RTAS workstations (like Pro Tools), as well as AU (Apple Logic), and VSTi (other).
• On the Web, there are several VSTi plugins for free.
• If you want to use VSTi plug-ins in RTAS or AU software, use a wrapper like FXpansion's plug-in wrapper.
  

For much of the jam session, here are the piano chords used:

   

At one point, a C chord is introduced in the jam session:

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Jam Session 104i, 12-Bar Blues in A (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104i:

We're playing the 12-bar blues in A, a simplified version of it, so that we're playing -

• Four bars of A
• Two bars of D
• Two bars of A
• One bar of E
• One bar of D
• Two bars of A
• Start over again!

I like to have a blues-swing mentality, 12/8 while playing the 12-bar blues:  "One and a two and a three and a four and a..." but a straight 4/4 count:  "One two three four..." or "One and two and three and four and..." could work just fine.

At one point in the jam session, the piano player does some embellishments on his right hand so that the major chords turn into 7th chords:

 

 

The guitar player solos/improvises in A blues, which is a minor scale, but it works over the major chords in the 12-bar blues in A.  Maybe we're culturally wired to appreciate the bluesy dissonance caused by clashing major and minor thirds (C# and C, respectively) in A.

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Lesson #22: Power Chords and Blues in A (Guitar, Beginner, Intermediate)

Power chords in A major: A5 B5 C#5 D5 E5 F#5 G#5
You should already know these power chords, possibly with the exception of G#5:



Power chords in A minor: A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 F5 G5
You should already know how to play the above power chords from the previous weeks.

12 Bar Blues in A:

A 2 3 4 A 2 3 4 A 2 3 4 A 2 3 4
D 2 3 4 D 2 3 4 A 2 3 4 A 2 3 4
E 2 3 4 D 2 3 4 A 2 3 4 D-Eb-E-yeah...

Just in case, here's Eb5 (or D#5) if you want to integrate this power chord in that last sequence of chords:



A Blues:

A Blues Horizontal (Guitar, Intermediate)

Scale: A blues

Notes: A C D D# E G

Hollow Circles: A notes

Orange Circles: A minor pentatonic, diagonal pattern

Gray Circles: A minor pentatonic

Blue Circles (Blue Note): D# notes

Example Chord Progression for Rhythm Guitar: Am D7 Am D7

A Blues Diagonal (Guitar, Beginner

Scale: A blues

Notes: A C D D# E G

Hollow Circles: A notes

Orange Circles: A minor pentatonic

Blue Circles (Blue Note): D# notes

Example Chord Progression for Rhythm Guitar: A5 C5 D5 D#5 D5 C5 A5

A Blues Vertical (Guitar, Beginner)

Scale: A blues

Notes: A C D D# E G

Hollow Circles: A notes

Orange Circles: A minor pentatonic

Blue Circles (Blue Note): D# notes

Example Chord Progression for Rhythm Guitar: A5 D5 C5 A5