Scale Namer Aflat Blues Version.

[Baldwin Funster]

Hopefully this isn't too basic.

The first scale is the Ab blues scale that I use to play a solo over a verse in Hold On (Sam and Dave).

But when the solo shifted to the "when the day comes" part I noticed that I needed to put an F in the scale or the melody sounded robotic. Then I noticed the symmetry of the shape. And the bizarre overlapping of minor thirds. Plus the chromatic bit in the middle. Played fast it rips on this tune but it's out of my understanding what's happening. 

I'd like to know because ive only gotten it to work in that key on that tune. 

 

[JamPro]

And woodenchaknoit?  The F blues scale is related to and the relative minor of the Ab blues scale - and can be used as a substitute for the Ab blues scale (mostly).  To my ear, the Ab blues scale sounds more bluesy and "downtown", and the F blues scale sounds more jazzy and "uptown".  

 

Try using that F blues scale where you have been playing the AB blues scale: see how that works for you.  Using both a blues scale and its relative minor will definitely expand your solo vocabulary.

 

It certainly makes perfect musical sense to add an F note to a blues scale - don't let theory hold you back when you think the sound is right. 

[stoken6]

My take: the verse of HOIC is a basic I-IV (Ab-Db) progression. The Ab minor blues scale includes a Gb, which is the 7th of Ab, but the fourth of Db, and the fourth is typically a note to avoid in these knds of solos. (I am aware that the word "typically" is doing a lot of work in that sentence).

 

By changing the Gb to an F, you swap out the problematic fourth for the major third - which is a critical note in defining the Db tonality. 

 

Using your ear in this way is a big part of playing interesting solos. (Pat Metheny's "show me the chord" is exactly what this is about). I've posted here about how boring I find solos that only use the "blues scale of I", throughout the solo.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Baldwin Funster]

Thanks. Im also intrigued by moving that C up to Db. The scale looks like some kind of diminished scale playground. I just haven't masteted using it or other diminished devices for getting that outside sound.

 

Jazz joke: if you spend too much time playing outside you might be living outside.

I bet somebody said that.