Why do solos based on Blues scales sometimes sound great, but other times sound terrible?

It’s all about playing “Blues Notes” at the right time and in the right place.

Using the great Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson’s solo on “Kidney Stew” as a practical example, we can learn a simple and workable method to accomplish the same feat in our own solos.

First Chorus

Although the blues scale, or any scale for that matter, might fit a certain chord or progression, you also have to know when and where to play those notes.

Most of us eventually work this out through a lot of trial and error and lots of listening, but it doesn’t have to be that hard.

First, let’s have a look at the “Kidney Stew” solo. It’s in Bb concert, so that’s C on your tenor saxophone. For the purpose of this lesson, the solo has been kept in the lower octave. To play along with the recording, you’ll want to either;

a)      Transpose the melody up an octave

Or,

b)      Use a software program to change the pitch of the recoding down an octave. If you don’t have one already, try downloading Audacity and the Lame Encoder. They’re free, easy enough to learn, and very useful for transcribing and learning tunes.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Check the “Downloads” area on the site for the lame encoder which enables audacity to handle mp3 files.

c) Note also, that the solo upon which this lesson is based, was played originally on the Alto saxophone. Alto players will have to transpose the lesson to the key of G to play along with the recording.

Just to refresh your memory, we have three 7^th chords to deal with in a basic 12 bar Blues.

C7                   F7     &      G7

The seventh chord contains the First, Third, Fifth and flatted Seventh of the corresponding Major scale.

So we get:

These chord tones, the 1, 3, 5, and 7b.  Knowing these chord tones, both mentally and on your horn, is very useful and important.

The chord tones are going to be our GOAL, or TARGET notes. Practice these chords on your horn until you don’t have to pause to think about them. You want to get to the point where as a C7 chord approaches, you know instantaneously, “OK that’s C E G Bb” and are able to finger those notes without having to think about it.

The chord tones work well as GOAL or TARGET notes for our solos, because they are the notes that make up the chords we are playing along with. If we, in our solos, play a chord tone, it’s going to fit very comfortably with the sound of the rhythm section. For example, if the rhythm section is playing a C7 chord, and we play G for example, it’s going to sound very consonant and harmonious.

But we want some grease and grit in there too, right? We want that “Down Home”, “Gut Bucket”, “Bluesy” sound. That’s where the Blues Scales come into play.

In the key of C for tenor sax, we shall use the:

C Blues Scale:  C      Eb     F       F#     G       Bb

The blues scale sounds “bluesy” because it contains notes that are dissonant, sour, and “grate against” the sound of the chords.

If we take the C7 chord as an example, we have our Chord Tones

C       E       G       Bb      which we know are harmonious, or consonant.

The C Blues Scale has the C G and Bb, but it also has the Eb which is the Flattened 3^rd. The F, the 4^th note of the scale, is quite dissonant.

And finally the F#, or Gb if you prefer. The F# is the Sharp 4^th or Flattened 5^th of the scale; it is a note that needs to be treated with care.

The Right Moments

What do I mean by “the right moments?”

Let’s take a look at our “basic” 12 bar blues progression. Don’t be put off by the word “basic”. Substitute the word “old” or “early” or “devoid of pretentious substitutions” if it makes ya’ feel better!

We’ve got:

C7/// C7/// C7/// C7///

F7/// F7/// C7/// C7///

G7/// F7/// C7/// C7///

The /// are the beats of the bar or measure.

Beat       1        2        3        4

              C7     /         /         /

The important moments, or “Beats”, in a tune are the 1 and 3. Beats 1 and 3 seem to want chord tones. By playing a chord tone on beats 1 or 3 or both, your lines will better fit the underlying chords, or harmony.

There are exceptions of course. There are no hard and fast “rules” in music, especially the Blues. You can play a Bluesy or dissonant note on beat 1 or 3, but that note is going to want to “resolve” or move, to a less dissonant note.

It’s also on beats 1 and 3, that we most often hear one chord change to another chord. In our standard Blues progression, we only have one chord per measure, so the “changes,” where one chord changes to another, all occur on beat one of the new measure. By playing a chord tone on beat one, our solo will acknowledge the change of chord. This is what’s often called “hitting the changes.”

With seventh chords, which is what we are dealing with here, the two notes that define the sound of the chord are the 3^rd and flattened 7^th.  On a C7 chord, these notes would be E and Bb.

Although we can play any chord tone on beat one and/or three, if we play the 3^rd or 7b, in this case E or Bb, we make it very clear to the listener that we are playing a C7 chord.

The real turning point for beginning and intermediate players occurs when we learn to hit these goal, or target notes and become adept at smoothly leading into them. That’s the point at which we begin to nail the changes and have some control over our lines.

So how do we do it?

Enter Mr. Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and his opening phrase or “lick.”

Eddie uses a triplet figure on beat 4 of the intro to “lead into” or “approach” or “target” the “Goal Note”. In this case the E on beat one of the C7 chord.  He plays the E as eighth notes on beat one of the measure and then nuthin’!!!

(Just a quick note: On some recordings Eddie will play the E as 1/8th notes on beat one,  and other times as ¼ notes over beats 1 &2. Play ‘em however you wish, it’s no big thing.)

Such a simple little phrase but within it are many lessons for the beginning blues player.

• The triplet figure on beat four gives the line a rhythmic kick start. I can’t stress the RHYTHMIC aspect of playing enough. Everything I’ve said in above about Chord Tones and Target Notes and Consonance and Dissonance is important but it all pales into insignificance besides RHYTHM.

• Look again at the 1^st phrase. Try playing it on your horn at a comfortable tempo. Swing it! Doesn’t have to be played fast. Hear how the triplet adds a sense of Forward Motion, or Propulsion to the phrase. Now play it again, but this time, leave out the triplet anticipation and just play the E E on beat one of the C7 chord. Hear the difference?

• Eddie uses this momentum to “Target” or land on the E on beat 1 of the C chord. E is the 3^rd of the C7 chord. Remember, I said that the 3^rd and flattened 7^th  (7b) were the defining notes of a 7^th chord? By leading into and landing on the E, he clearly lets us know that we’re listening to a C chord. The fact that he chooses the G A C notes to approach the E, just makes it that much clearer. The G and C are chord tones (5^th and Tonic) and A is the 6^th a pretty note. All these notes grouped together like this, and the fact that he plays the E on beat one, tells the listener it’s the C chord.

• He plays the eighth note E’s and then stops! This is great! Such an easy thing to overlook. We often get caught up in the chords and which scale to play over which chord. We see/hear a chord and feel obliged to play something over it right? And we get so caught up in playing something hip on each chord, that we struggle when we have to change from chord to chord. “I can play the chords, I just have a little trouble with the changes.” Sound familiar?

• Eddie Vinson doesn’t give himself that drama. He’s already done the important stuff. He’s established a rhythm, got the swing and momentum going, and established the harmony by leading into and playing the 3^rd of the chord on beat 1. That’s it! All the important stuff done and dusted with 4 notes over 2 beats of music.
• Just remember not to make things harder than they have to be. Eddie could have used just 2 notes or shaped one note even, to achieve the same result. You don’t have to play a million notes to sound great. By stopping Eddie has given the music a chance to breathe. He’s using space. He’s also given himself plenty of time to get ready to play his next phrase. The changes (where one chord changes to another) are perhaps more important from a playing perspective than the Chords themselves. Vinson makes the change and doesn’t overplay his hand. He gives himself plenty of time to get ready for the next change.

Second Phrase

• We can hear this as a smooth, flowing blues lick, and we wouldn’t be wrong, but we’ll learn more from it if we dig a little deeper. I see three short phrases skillfully put together to make one long flowing line.

• The first short phrase is the same as Eddie’s opening lick, only this time he’s leading into beat 3 and playing the EE on the 3^rd beat of the bar. He’s achieving the same result, but using a little variety by landing on beat three instead of beat one again.

• The second short phrase begins with an eighth note on the “and” of beat 4 to anticipate or lead into beat one of the next measure. This time, Eddie approaches the E from Eb, a half step below. This is one of the strongest, most used, most effective ways to lead into, or approach a note. It’s the bread and butter of Blues, Jazz, and music in general. Leading into a Goal or Target note by a half step, or whole step, gives a very smooth sounding transition, often called “smooth voice leading.”

• Have a listen to another favourite tune, “Mustang Sally.” Listen to the Bari Sax and you’ll hear this half step below to Chord tone approach. It’s a staple of Blues. Jazz. R n’B etc., and something that you should know, hear, and be able to use. It’s also a really handy way to come up with a background riff when playing behind a solist or singer. For example;

• You can use this half step approach on the Root of the chord, G in our example above. Or you might use the same half step from below approach to the 3^rd   5^th    or 7b

• If you are playing with another horn player, try using the 3^rd and let the other horn use the 7b. Remember these were our defining tones of the 7^th chord? Just two horns playing these sorts of background riffs can state the harmony very clearly. Try different rhythms. Mix it up and have fun.

Let’s now go back to the 2^nd part of this line.

·        We have the half-step from below, leading into beat one of the next measure, where Eddie plays the 3^rd again E, then he descends via a C major pentatonic scale to land on G at beat three.

·        The major pentatonic scale is a very useful scale on any type of tune especially the blues. It’s made up of 5 notes (Hey! Penta = 5…whadda ya know!?) Those notes are the 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 5^th and 6^th of the major scale. So C major pentatonic would be;

C       D       E       G       A

F major pentatonic would be;

F       G       A       C       D

G major pentatonic would be;

G       A       B       D       E

·       You can see that in the 2^nd part of the lick, Eddie leads into the 3^rd (E) from a ½ step below, and then descends via the C major pentatonic scale E D C A to land on G at beat three. And we know that G is a chord tone (the 5^th), so landing on the G is a good move.

·       What Cleanhead has done so far, is to repeat his first lick, then lead into the third again (this time from half a step below) and walk down the pentatonic scale from the 3^rd (E) to land on the 5^th (G).

·       With only the 4^th beat left in the measure, Eddie needs something quick and easy to lead into a chord tone on beat one of the upcoming C7 chord. He’s only got one beat left to pull it off, and has no time for anything too fancy. What does Mr. Cleanhead do? The “approach from 1/2 step below” idea . He only needs one note to lead into beat one of the next measure. and he can fit one note in. Take a look:

·       He leads into the E (3^rd) again! From the Eb a half step below again!!!. Do you notice anything? That’s right, he’s played the E on the “and” of beat 4, rather than waiting to play it on beat 1 of the next measure. Anticipating (or playing it a bit early) the chord sounds very effective here. It’s a cool little trick you can have up your sleeve from now on.

Let’s review the second “lick” or phrase.

We’ve broken it down into 3 smaller ideas. What looks like a long and complicated line, is really just 3 different ways of approaching chord tones, and 2 of those were the same note, albeit in different octaves.

Eddie has used three different rhythmic ideas to approach the chord tones, and once he’s hit them, notice that he doesn’t mess around playing anything fancy. He concentrates on setting up the approach to the next chord tone. By creatively linking three of these simple chord tone approaches together, he makes a longer, hip sounding line.

He’s mixed up his rhythmic ideas using triplets, syncopated 8^th and quarter notes etc to propel the line. This line is a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

The Next Phrase

Let’s move on now to the next phrase, and a change from the I chord, (C7), to the IV chord (F7).

Notice again, that Eddie doesn’t really play anything over the C7 chord leading up to the F7. He nailed the E (3^rd) and just sits on that E until he’s ready to lead into the upcoming F7.

Take a good long look at the “pick up” or “lead in” to the F7 chord. It begins on the and of beat three and then a triplet on beat 4, before landing on the F at beat one of the F7 chord.

The rhythm is a very, very, common one and we’ll certainly add that to our rhythmic vocabulary, but have a look at the four notes that Cleanhead chooses to use here.   

F       A       C       D

Although we are still, strictly speaking, on the C7 chord, Eddie’s mind is already on the upcoming F7 chord, and he leads into the F7 using the 1^st 3^rd 5^th and 6^th notes of the F major scale.

We know from our earlier discussion, that the 1^st 3^rd 5^th and 7b notes of a major scale make a 7^th chord.

The 1^st 3^rd 5^th and 6^th notes of the F major scale, form what is called an F6 chord.

This 6^th chord, is a favourite of Eddie Vinson’s and practically every swing, jazz, and jump blues player . Lester Young, King Curtis, B.B King, Louis Jordan, they all leaned heavily on the 6^th chord.

You might have already noticed that there’s not much difference between the F6 chord and the F major pentatonic scale.

F major pentatonic = F G A C D

F6                            =  F  A C  D

I can’t emphasize the importance of this chord enough. Eddie Vinson uses this chord in almost every tune I’ve heard him play. For jump blues and swing, it could be called the “bread and butter chord”.

Like the major pentatonic scale, it has a bright, happy sound that fits beautifully over a major chord, or a 7^th chord as we have here.

But hang on a minute! Aren’t we playing a blues here? Aren’t we supposed to be sounding down and dirty? Why would we want to play a happy sounding chord or scale, when the blues is supposedly meant to be full of sorrow and pain?

Good question. Those sorrowful, low down, dirty, blues notes are going to sound so much more low down and dirty, if they have something with which to contrast.

I’m going to use a gross example to make the point here, so bear with me. If you’re sitting around with your buddies, watching the game, drinking beer and eating pizza, and somebody burps or breaks wind, no one’s really going to raise an eyebrow and if it’s a good game, no one might even notice right? Now picture yourself doing the same thing at your mother in law’s 75^th birthday party. Right about the moment your wife is proposing a heartfelt toast to her dear mum.  

You see the difference? The blue notes, in and of themselves, aren’t what gives you that low down funky sound. It’s the contrast they make with the other notes you play that makes them sound blue.

For a better explanation of all this, check out Joey the Saint’s article in SOTW’s Blues, R&B, and Rock n’ Roll Teaching Resource.

Eddie has run up the F6 chord and landed on F (the root of the F7 chord). Then, he just walks down the F7 chord”

F F    Eb Eb    C  A      

to land on F again at beat one of the next measure, which is also an F7 chord.

He then pivots back and forward between the Eb (7b) and the C (5^th) of the F7 chord. Nothing fancy, just two notes, but Mr. Cleanhead makes it swing, before hitting the E natural and the D to lead into the upcoming C7 chord.

The use of the Eb here, the 7b, sounds great because of the contrast with all the E naturals we heard in the first 4 bars. This is what I mean by contrast. Eddie established a sound in our ears, and when he plays the Eb, it sounds bluesy because our ear has been fed the E naturals previously. He returns to the E natural and the D to anticipate or lead into the upcoming C7 chord.

Something to note! Often when we are analyzing solos or whatever, we see something like that E natural on an F7 chord, and then try to come up with all kinds of fancy explanations and exotic scales etc., to try to justify the appearance of an unexpected note. Here, we’ve got E natural when an F7 chord is supposed to have an Eb right?

Now we could try to second guess what Eddie was thinking, but the truth may be much simpler. He’s on beat four of the F7 chord, and leading into the upcoming C7 chord. Against the C7 chord, the E natural needs no explanation. It’s the 3^rd of the C7 right? Is it at all possible that Eddie was done with the F7 chord, and was already thinking about the approaching C7 chord? Only Eddie knows for sure, but it certainly makes our job simpler to believe so.

Contrast and Killer Blues Licks

Eddie’s tipped into the C7 with the E and D, and lands on C, the root of the C7 chord. Yet, again he lands on a chord tone on beat one of the chord. He descends down our C major pentatonic scale:

C major pentatonic = C         D       E       G       A

So going down, we get C       A       G       E       D       C

Then, he hits the Eb (flattened 3^rd ) on the “and” of beat two.

Why not the E natural?

By hitting the flattened 3^rd here, Eddie can lead into the E natural on beat 3 from a half step below. 

We’ve mentioned previously that chord tones sound good on beats one and three, and that leading into the chord tones by a half step is desirable. And that’s exactly what Eddie Vinson does.

He then hits the G and the C, two chord tones and holds the C into the next measure that is also a C7 chord. Even though he’s played the Eb here, it doesn’t stand out or sound incredibly bluesy, because he hasn’t “leant on it”, or held it. He played it on the “and” or “up beat” of beat two, as a lead into the E natural on beat three. The overall sound and feeling here is major and happy. This is exactly what Eddie wants us to hear, because coming up next are the last 4 bars of the chorus; that’s where Eddie wants to lay down some dirty nasty stuff. By preceding it with a more happy, major sound, it’s going to sound all the more bluesy in contrast.

Eddie leads into the G7 chord by playing G A G before landing on the Bb (flattened 3^rd ) of G7. He then repeats it, and plays it against the G to really emphasize the bluesy effect. He also gives it some growl and attitude to further make it stand out.

After the previous two bars, which were relatively happy and upbeat, nailing that flat 3^rd, setting it up with the G A G, playing the Bb on a strong beat, repeating it, and then playing it with attitude and contrasting it with G (the root of G7), all add up to make a killer blues lick out of a simple rhythm on just 3 notes.

Nothing too fancy, just the right notes at the right moment played with conviction and a little attitude.

Eddie Vinson continues the bluesy effect by choosing Eb, (the flatted 7^th ), as his target note for the next chord which is F7. 

It’s still a chord tone, and it does the job of sounding the change of chords while providing a more bluesy sound than the root 3^rd or 5^th might have done.

Beats two and three are again made up of chord tones of the F7 chord, C (5^th) and A (3^rd). The phrase is still bluesy, but not to the same extent as the previous G7 chord. There’s a slight but perceptible easing of the tension created in the previous bar. The triplet on beat 4 is a lead in to the C7 chord.

The notes, G E and D, are common to both the F major pentatonic scale and the C major pentatonic scale. It doesn’t really matter so much which scale or chord they belong to, the important point is that the triplet rhythm again provides momentum or forward motion to lead us into the next C7 chord. This major sound provides a further relaxing of the tension built up on the G7 chord.

The final phrase! Mr. Cleanhead resolves all of the previous tension by playing the 3^rd , Root, and 6^th of the C chord in a simple swinging rhythm. He uses the sweet, happy sounding 6^th , rather than the flat 7^th , because the flat 7^th would reintroduce tension. Here he wants to resolve all the tension or “bluesiness.”

To close, I hope this article gives you some solid ideas on how to play those chord tones and blues scales that will enable you to hit the right notes at the right times.