Swinging the blues question

perfopt
New Member

Posts: 13

Swinging the blues question Sept 29, 2013 9:53:21 GMT -6

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Post by perfopt on Sept 29, 2013 9:53:21 GMT -6

I just learnt lesson 4 Swinging the Blues. I have the following question

In the 2nd bar the D7 chord is played in the backing track. But the "lead" (ie the tab) we are playing A-minor pentatonic descending.

D7 notes are D F# A E#

Only two notes of the lead (A-minor pentatonic) - A and D are the same as the scale. Is it "ok" to play notes that are not part of the chord when D7 is being played?

I was under the impression that the notes played by the lead player have to be ones in the chord being played by rhythm.

perfopt
New Member

Posts: 13

Swinging the blues question Sept 30, 2013 6:01:27 GMT -6

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Post by perfopt on Sept 30, 2013 6:01:27 GMT -6

Thanks for your reply.

I think I made an error D7 dominant is D F# A C (1 3 5 b7).

I agree with the "if it sounds good it is good" bit but as a beginner a lot of stuff I play sounds good (and turns to sounding bad in just a couple of days!!). So I need some way to decide what is the "right note" to play. On another forum someone suggested that playing notes of the scale that correspond to the current chord in the progression is the right way.

JohnG
Full Member

Posts: 193

Swinging the blues question Oct 4, 2013 8:29:56 GMT -6

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Post by JohnG on Oct 4, 2013 8:29:56 GMT -6

Hi perfopt,

In a blues, you can "force" the pentatonic minor scale of the key over all of the chords in the 12-bar progression. In this case, it is the A minor pentatonic scale. Some of the notes may clash a bit, but that's often what gives the blues its edge. You can use that scale exclusively and happily play the blues for your entire musical life.

However, when you add the notes of the chords, you end up with a few "extra" notes on your tonal palette. That makes for richer licks and melodies. As you work through Blues You Can Use you will find that those extra notes are introduced and explored, a bit at a time.

I hope you enjoy the journey.

JG