How to: Improvise over the Blues Scale (Jazz Tutorial)

(b will be used as the flat sign in this tutorial since I'm too lazy to figure out the alt code)

Disclaimer: This is my method of 12-bar blues, you may be taught differently at school and other places, and that's ok, there are many ways of doing this.

Hey there, and welcome to the tutorial where you (hopefully) learn how to improvise over the Blues Scale. This will be possible with almost any instrument that can do at least a one octave chromatic scale. Some music theory knowledge will be helpful in understanding this tutorial, but I'll see if I can't explain most things as I go along.

So, first let's talk about scales.

A typical scale follows a pattern using whole and half steps, which is essentially the space between two notes, I find this easiest to explain while viewing a piano/keyboard:

Spoiler

So, a half step would be two notes that are adjacent chromatically, and a whole step is just two half steps. Using whole steps and half steps, many different types of scales can be made, let's just look at some of the basic scales:

The major scale that is typically used while teaching theory is C, so I'll be speaking in C for these examples.

Major scale (w = whole step, h - half step)

C D E F G A B C

This follows the Major scale pattern of w, w, h, w, w, w, h

This can be done with any key, for example, let's look at F

F G A Bb C D E F

Again, this follows the pattern of w, w, h, w, w, w, h

Minor scale (w = whole step, h - half step)

Let's look at A minor for this example:

A B C D E F G A

This follows the minor pattern of w, h, w, w, h, w, w

Again, this pattern can be used in any key that you'd like. If you noticed, the minor scale is actually just a major scale that starts on the 6th note in the scale. A minor is the minor scale for C Major.

Alright, now that I've gone a little bit over how to make a major/minor scale in any key, let's talk about the juicy stuff: the blues scale!

Note that this should be played swing style. Swing style isn't something I can explain via typing, so you should go listen to swing-style music or understand what it is before attempting this tutorial.

Like the major and minor keys, the blues scale can be played starting on any note. Let's look at the Bb blues, as they are played most commonly in elementary jazz.

The blues scale is based off of the following numbers in every scale:

1 3b 4 4#/5b 5 7b 8

So, this is a little different from the other scales in how I explained them, but it isn't too hard to figure out using whole and half steps.

Let's do this in Bb, Bb is 1, or the first key in the scale. 3b would be the third note in the major scale, but down a half step, so in this case, Db. 4 is the 4th note in the scale, so Eb in this case. The next one is either 4# or 5b, they are the same notes, you can think of it either way you want, in this case, it would be E natural. 5 is the 5th note in the scale, so that would be F. 7b would be Ab, as A is the 7th note in the scale, and Ab is a half step down.

Bb Blues:
Bb Db Eb E F Ab Bb

We have walked through Bb blues! (walk... get it... nm I'll shut up now) Now that you have your notes, let me talk a little bit about 12-bar blues, which is the most commonly used form in basic jazz improvisation.

12 bar blues is what it sounds like, 12 measures of playing blues! (It's a little more complicated than that, it's all you need to know right now)

This is the typical basic pattern for 12 bar blues, although there are many variations:

Spoiler

As you can see above, there are some notes, which are supposed to represent chords. You don't have to worry too much about this yet unless you're a rhythm section member (piano, guitar, bass, drumset), then you should probably know before learning to improvise.

You may wonder why I posted the 12 bar blues format above, even though you don't need to worry about chords yet. It's just meant as a visual. I'm going to talk about "blues licks", which is the most crucial part of this whole tutorial, as they are a great way to get started on improvising over the blues.

A blues lick in this scenario will be two bars/measures of pre-planned melody. You may come up with your own two measure licks, or listen to other people and take their licks, which is what the jazz community does. The best solos at the beginning are solos made from licks, so I recommend learning a few first before attempting to solo freely over the blues scale.

Think of soloing as a "conversation", if you will. Don't just sputter random notes, that's like people sputtering random words. Try to turn your words into a sentence, or notes into a lick.

I'm going to explain something called "call and response", which is what 12-bar-blues should be based upon. Break those twelve measures down into 3 sets of 4 measures. Let's look at the first four measures. If you were soloing via blues licks, you would typically play your lick over the first two measures, leaving the second two measures open for rests. This allows for members of the rhythm section, (piano, guitar, and set in this case) to "respond" to the message that you said. This is something that is typically achieved through lots of listening and practice. Responding can be harder than calling, but it is a great way for a musician to learn how to navigate the blues scale. The rhythm section doesn't necessarily have to do the response. If invited to, you may respond to other people who are improvising, I know that it has helped my in a lot of ways pertaining to my improvisation growth.

Back to the 3 sets of 4 measures. The blues solo that I'm talking about right now is essentially a 6 sentence conversation, with two conversations happening every 4 measures. As I've said before, lots of notes doesn't make a good solo, licks and knowing the blues scale makes a good solo.

Also, know that the blues scale is not even close to the only way of soloing, there are countless other useful things to do such as Dorian and mixolydian scales, chord outlining, etc.

I've been pretty vague in the tutorial as to what a lick is, but I assure you, I will record some licks of my own to help you out in the next few days. Hope you learned something new. If you know jazz and want me to add anything, let me know via PM. Thanks for your time!