Ali Sleeq’s Blues Bass lesson, Part 3 is here!!1

Our Man with the bass master plan, Ali Aleeq, has conjured up a classic ! The bass blues basics part 3 lesson is here !

Blues Bass-ics PART THREE

Ali Sleeq

20.02.2011

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The blues basics lesson is drawing to a close! Hope you’ve found some interesting information, and remember you can ask me for any help!

Last time we talked about the concepts of 12-bar blues in triplets. Now, I will introduce the blues scale, some endings, and turnarounds.

Blues Scale

The blues scale, most popular in solos and lead playing, is important to understand, since it can be used for driving rhythms.

The basic theory of this scale is a minor pentatonic (or 5 note) scale plus the b5 (flatted 5^th). This note is one of the “blue” notes, along with the b7 (flatted 7^th). These notes are the crucial notes for that “sound”.

In the key of G, it would be shown as below.

Key of G

G = Root (I)

C = Fourth (IV) ie the fourth note in the G major scale sequence

D = Fifth (V) ie the fifth note in the G major scale sequence

Major Scale of G = G A B C D E F# G

Minor Scale of G = G A Bb C D Eb F G

Minor Pentatonic of G = G Bb C D F# G

Blues Scale in G = G Bb C C# D F# G

This is the scale in Tab:

Example 1  (Listen to the sample)

4/4 Standard

   G|-----------------------|

   D|-----------------3—-5--|

   A|-----1--3--4--5--------|

   E|--3--------------------|

Let use this scale for some 12-bar blues in triplets. The below is the most common rhythm for this scale in a blues song. It gets people pumped!

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4/4 – Triplet/Swing feel

Example 2 (Listen to the sample)

Notice how I used the chromatic scale entrance towards the D in bar 8 and 11? This is used to build up to that chord.

Here’s another blues bass riff using the blues scale:

Example 3 (Listen to the sample)

Nice chromatic runs there!

Finally I will introduce turnarounds, which are riffs or fills that lead back to the root on bar 1 of the blues.

Example 4 (Listen to the sample)

There you have it. A crash course in blues bass!! If you enjoyed this lesson let me know, and any questions (haven’t gotten any yet) please inform me J

I will be entering to the realm of jazz next time…. With a Miles Davis tune

Here’s a bass solo in blues scale for you as a bonus

See you next time!

Ali Sleeq

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