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Major Blues Scale Exercise

I started the major blues scale course at PWJ a few weeks ago, and I (sadly) haven't given it as much time as I should. It's also been challenging. In this video, I'm playing a few different versions of the scale, all using the same I∆-vi7-ii7-V7 progression in the left hand:

  • swung 8th notes with chord shells/Charleston rhythm in the left hand
  • 16th notes with chord shells (I was thinking in triplets with Charleston, but the result sounded like 16ths Weird.)
  • 16th notes with whole notes in the LH accompaniment

(Note: I recorded this at 5 a.m., so I had the piano volume on low ... which is why you can hear my fingers thumping on the keys.)

Why This Was Hard I: The Scale

This was not easy to learn! First, there was the matter of the scale. The C major and minor scales are very automatic for me because I've been playing them for years. The C minor blues scale has also become very automatic, as I've been improvising on it every day for the better part of a year.

But the C major blues scale? I struggled. The scale itself feels weird under the fingers (C-D-D#-E-G-A), particularly where the thumb crosses over from A to C. Also, I had to temporarily "un-learn" the other scales that are so ingrained in my mind and my fingers.

Why This Was Hard II: The LH Chord Pattern

And then there was the left hand. Using the same four-chord progression, Jonny presents beginner, intermediate, and advanced versions that we can choose from. The beginner is whole notes only, the intermediate is quarter-note shells, and the advanced is quarter-note rootless voicings. I started out using the beginner version, and that was too hard! I finally got to where I could play the intermediate version, and I think I'm happy with that. It's the intermediate version that I play in the video. (I use the whole-note/beginner version when playing the 16th-note scale in the video above.)

Why This Was Hard III: Bringing It Together, Charleston-Style

Of course, there was also the Charleston rhythm with the swung 8th notes, which is tricky if you're just learning Charleston rhythm. I worked really hard on this back in February/March when I thought I wanted to focus on jazz. I hadn't really used this rhythm since then, but it came back pretty quickly -- more so than I expected it to.

Still, combining the new scale, the chord shells, and the rhythm was a challenge. And it's taken me several weeks to be able to play what I play in the video. (Weirdly, now that I have the scale under my fingers, I've had no trouble increasing the tempo, even with the LH chord shells. I guess all that slow practice did some good!)

What's Next

The next challenge: improvising on the scale! I've already watched the two lessons on this, and I've been working on improvisation. It doesn't sound great yet, but it doesn't sound terrible either. I'm getting there!

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