Using the Blues Scale.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 4 May 2017 2:08 pm

I'm having a senior momnent her, but the dobro player for Flatt and Scruggs was extremely Bluesy!

Jim Robbins · Post by **Jim Robbins** » 4 May 2017 2:31 pm

Stuart Legg wrote: ...
Here is a few examples in G on E9

Why three sharps in the key signature? Or is that just a typo?

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 4 May 2017 2:33 pm

Josh Graves was who I was thinking about! Very Bluesy!

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 4 May 2017 2:40 pm

Check this out, especially Grave's solo. Pure Blues!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FneAesYsBk

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 4 May 2017 3:50 pm

To answer Earnest Bovine: Earnest concerning paying the melody to "Happy Birthday". The great guitar player I played with, who could not play a major scale, would have improvised over and around the melody. Earnest, if you stop and think about it, the rock, blues, and jazz players
you see seldom if ever play melody. They improvise around the chord structure. The song Happy Birthday would not be the song Happy Birthday, if someone improvised on the blues scale, without a singer.
Earnest, in the good old days there used to be melody to songs. Seems like more and more music has no melody. Take for example new country, and traditional country music. I don't hear much melody in new country music, only scales.
Now about what Jim Robbins said: I agree with Jim, Stuart, what about the three sharps? Stuart likes to joke. Was that a joke you played on us?

Larry Allen · Post by **Larry Allen** » 4 May 2017 5:38 pm

Easy G blues , no pedals... Larry

Dan Kimpel · Post by **Dan Kimpel** » 8 May 2017 12:36 pm

Keith Hilton wrote:if you stop and think about it, the rock, blues, and jazz players
you see seldom if ever play melody. They improvise around the chord structure.

Jazz players play the melody, referred to as the "head", in the beginning and the end of every song, sometimes twice at the beginning and the end. This is happens on almost every tune without fail. I'm not sure what "jazz" you're referring to.

Stuart Legg · Post by **Stuart Legg** » 10 May 2017 10:43 am

Jim Robbins wrote:
Stuart Legg wrote: ...
Here is a few examples in G on E9

Why three sharps in the key signature? Or is that just a typo?

You're right the key should be one sharp. I just didn't change my template.
I usually write the Gmaj scale in the key of A to show it as playing an Am Dorian mode over an A major or minor blues progression.
did you try playing along with the youtube chord progression?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuuol49u03Q

Jim Robbins · Post by **Jim Robbins** » 10 May 2017 4:58 pm

Stuart Legg wrote: ... did you try playing along with the youtube chord progression?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuuol49u03Q

Can't say that I did (I have to learn a bunch of parts on 6 string so have not been at the steel that much recently, and then there's the day job ...) but I'm familiar with the scale & its uses & know how it sounds over that progression.

BTW your second line 1st measure -- you can also play G - A - A# - B all at the 8th fret - 10th string (G), 10th string A pedal (A), 9th string (A#), 8th string lowered 1/2 tone (B). Kind of a cool sound. Slide it up 3 frets and you have a minor pentatonic with the flat 5 lick.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 11 May 2017 12:27 am

The whole concept of the blues scale is what that flat 3rd, flat 5th, and flat 7th do to the diatonic chords in a given key. Somebody asked what a blues player does with Happy Birthday. I bet Duane Allman would have known just what to do.