Tag: blue notes

Tip #49 – Bending Through a Melody With Blue Notes

Let’s start by answering a question that you probably had: “What is a blue note?”

And the answer is actually not set in stone… because there are two alternating definitions of “blue notes.”

The first definition comes from the idea of what scale degrees are changed from a major scale to a regular minor blues scale. Those would be the:

| b3 – b5 – b7 |

So, by this first definition, anything out of the ordinary from the major scale of the key that acts as a flattened-3rd, 5th, or 7th scale degree qualifies as a “blue note.”

The other definition goes smaller, into quarter-tones. This states that blue notes are even further out of tune with the standard major scale, being quarter-tones apart (either higher or lower in pitch) from the said flattened-3rd, 5th, or 7th scale degrees.

If the instrument you are writing for has the capability of hitting quarter-tones (with bends, slides, tunings, etc.), play around with incorporating those notes from around the flattened-3rd, 5th, or 7th scale degrees. If not, just use the simpler definition of blue notes to achieve a bluesy sound.


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Tip #48 – Using the Mock Blues Scale

Incorporating this mock blues scale, while interesting, is like being sold by a gimmicky infomercial. However, it is worth talking about.

Basically it would be something like this:

HEY THERE!! ARE YOU A COMPOSER THAT USES THE MAJOR SCALE A LOT? DON’T YOU WANT SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING OUT OF LIFE? CAN’T HELP YOU THERE TO CURE THE BLUES, BUT BOY CAN I SHOW YOU HOW TO CHANGE YOUR OLD MAJOR SCALE INTO SOMETHING NEW! SOMETHING TRUE! SOMETHING BLUE!! WITH THESE THREE EASY PAYMENTS OF LOWERED SCALE DEGREES, YOU TOO CAN HAVE THIS BLUES SOUND!

(end scene)

So, what I’m getting at is that to build a mock blues scale, take a major scale and lower the same degrees found in the blue scales. That would give you the scale degrees of:

| 1 – 2 – b3 – 4 – b5 – 6 – b7 – 1 |

With it, the original melody would transform as such:

Which can either work really well… or poorly. Either way, it is still an option for interest with any composer.


Thank you so much for taking the time to read! Feel free to comment, share, and subscribe for more daily tips below! Till next time.