Book Description

The Blues Scale by Andrew D. Gordon is he feels, one of his most important books because of the nature of the blues scale and how it is used to improvise in many styles of contemporary music. The book consists of 20 grooves: Pop 2 Grooves Rock 3 Grooves Blues 2 Grooves Jazz 1 Groove Funk 3 Grooves R&B 1 Groove Latin 1 Groove Gospel 2 Grooves New Age 1 Groove Reggae 1 Groove Calypso 1 Groove Acid-Jazz 1 Groove Country 1 Groove Both the Blues scale and relative minor Blues scale are explained in detail and how they are used either separately or together in the patterns for each style, (the relative minor Blues scale is generally not used in minor keys.) Each of the 20 grooves in this book contains over 150 patterns in total, using notes solely from the blues scale. Each of the 20 grooves utilizes a chord progression that is commonly used for that style of music. The patterns generally start off fairly simply and become more complex as the groove progresses. The audio files contain recordings of all the blues patterns that are notated in the book recorded along with a rhythm section of piano, organ, guitar, bass and drums and on certain grooves percussion. Also included are extended 2-3 minute play-a-long mp3 files of all 20 grooves enabling you to practice playing the blues patterns or creating your own for an extended period of time. MIDI files are also available. The image to the right shows both the C and A (relative minor of C) Blues scales.Throughout the book there are patterns of these two scales both individually and together creating a huge library of improvisational melodic lines to choose from. The above R&B groove consists of 8 patterns, the first 3 patterns use the G Blues scale, the next 3 patterns use the relative minor of G which is the E Blues scale and the last two patterns consists of a combination of both the G and E Blues scale which is demonstrated throughout the book in the various styles. The image below shows both the C and A (relative minor of C) Blues scales.Throughout the book there are patterns of these two scales both individually and together creating a huge library of improvisational melodic lines to choose from.