Both of these scales can be used in blues songs, pop songs, funk, swing, jazz, and rock music. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. I play baritonsax in a blues band and it would help me a lot in my improvisations. A blues scale practice this over an a minor and a c major chord. The blues scale alto saxophone essential lesson what is. If you want to learn the blues scale on saxophone, check out this quick video tutorial to show you what it is, how to play it and how you can. Blues scales for saxophone jason justice saxophone teacher. That means the blues scale is a pentatonic minor scale with the raised fourth aka lowered fifth in addition to the perfect fourth. This starts to take you beyond boring scales into more musical phrases and you can.
Answers on page 7 a closer look at the major and minor pentatonic scales in the traditional ionian major and aeolian natural minor scales, there exists a tritone augmented 4 th diminished 5 th between the 4 th and 7 th. Hi, heres a quick video to show you how to play the g blues scale on alto saxophone. When this happens, the blues scale is often the first jazz scale that the student is taught. The blues scale for alto sax and eb instruments digital. Free 12 blues scales sheet neffmusicjazz saxophone and. Heres a short lesson to show you on alto saxophone.
In this book was a chart depicting the 5 pentatonic scale modes. Printable scales written for the saxophone, including major, melodic minor, harmonic minor, natural minor and chromatic below are both printable pdf and html links to all the major, minor and chromatic scales for saxophone. Mar 17, 2017 if you want to learn the blues scale on saxophone, check out this quick video tutorial to show you what it is, how to play it and how you can learn the building blocks of the blues scale so you. Ive had a close relationship with the blues scale for over 40 years yikes. May 26, 2014 alto sax alto saxophone approach notes audio lesson bebop scale beginner beginner saxophone blues blues licks blues patterns blues scale blues scales diminished scale ear training fundamentals iivi improvisation jazz education jazz improvisation jazz lines jazz patterns jazz sax jazz saxophone jazz standard jazz standards licks mastering the. Free pdf of all major and minor blues scales sax on the. For more information and licks using the blues scales check. The penatanic major and the c major scales see the. To summarize, the most important scales to learn first are the major, dorian, and mixolydian scales because they help you navigate major 7th, minor 7th, and dominant b7 chords, respectively. The scale omnibus free pdf book steve neff music blog.
I like to identify blues scales in two forms, a major blues scale and the more traditional minor blues scale. Heres how to play and improvise blues saxophone, the 12 bar blues saxophone format. Blues saxophone improvisation with simple 5 note scales. There is a major pentatonic scale and a minor pentatonic scale. Students often experience difficulty bridging musical the gap between the mind and instrument. Print and download in pdf or midi blues scales alto saxophone.
There is slight variations in how you use this scale depending on the harmony behind it. Pentatonic scales for sax pdf pentatonic scales for sax pdf pentatonic scales for sax pdf download. Of course, ideally you dont need or want these written out do you. An arpeggio is the first, third and fifth notes of the scale youve been practising. This is a nice easy demonstration of the notes that make. The main essence of modal jazz is melodic invention rather than the harmonic expertise used in changes based jazz. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. Aug, 2018 with the blues foundation course, youll get 30 video lessons, 36 blues backing tracks in all 12 keys and four styles, a pdf course guide, and audio examples of everything youll learn. Its just a sheet with all the 12 major blues scales on it. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys. Youve got your brand new saxophone assembled correctly, neck strap in place, reed on, and ready to go. Jan 20, 20 the blues scale is without a doubt one of the most impressive and cool sounding scales. Usually its the next scale learned after the major and minor scales.
If you take a look at the sheet you might notice that the scales are the same as the scales on my free 12 blues scales sheet but that they start on a different note. Then notate its relative minor scale and its scale degrees. I remember being introduced to the blues scale in jazz band when i was a sixth grader. If youre ready to get started, you can enroll here. The pentatonic and blues scales are fun to play around with and give you a certain bluesy sound. And when used in the right places, a very hip sounding tool. Minor pentatonic has one less note than the blues scale, so theyre practically the same scale. Beginners pdf files part 1 blues scales free download of useful stuff for beginners this pdf contains extracts from the main file which is a small part of the beginners starter pack available over on taming the saxophone. Its the most valuable way to jump start your blues skills. Label the scale degrees of the major pentatonic scales. Free 12 major blues scale sheet neffmusicjazz saxophone. On this page i will show you the easiest way to derive major and minor pentatonic and blues scales from any major scale.
Continue using this process as your musical vocabulary grows to include different kinds of scales i. This is probably the most useful scale in jazz improvisation. One octave major and minor scales alto saxophone baritone. Download a copy of blues scales in all keys for saxophone. The blues scale alto saxophone essential lesson what. How to play the blues scale saxophone lessons youtube. Eb saxophone blues scales sheet music for alto saxophone. Blues improvisation lesson for saxophone better sax. Print and download in pdf or midi saxophone blues scales. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. We are not going to use the blues scales ill cover that in another guide instead. For example to quickly understand the difference between a major and minor, click on major, then minor melodic or. Pdf diminished scale patterns this pdf lesson includes a number of diminished scale patterns along with a long tones for saxophone this lesson.
Here is a pdf of the 36 important scales major, dorian, and. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. With a little creativity, you can even use this exercise as an aid in learning to hear and play chord changes. In some respects, teaching the this scale as the first jazz scale makes sense. Of course, just like with the pentatonic scales, the major blues scale sounds like this, its relative major. In modern jazz improvisation, many different scale colors are used. The notebynote saxophone all minor scales guide with saxophone main and alternate finger charts learn to use lots of space in blues improvisation exercises for this exercise, youre also going to want to use a lot of space. You should hear them, feel them, know them, eat them and whatever comes next with them. 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. For example, the f major blues scale is the same as the d blues scale some people call this the minor blues scale but the d blues scale starts on d and its home base root note. Watch the video for saxophone assemblydisassembly tips here. In a dorian sequence that consists of the two chords im7 and iv7, improvisers often interchange patterns and scales so that a dm7 pattern can be used over the g7, or a g7 pattern can be used over the dm7. You can click on the buttons to move forwardbackward through the different scales.
This is a nice easy demonstration of the notes that make up the a blues scale and which keys on your. Blues scales alto saxophone sheet music for alto saxophone. The blues scale for alto saxophone and eb instruments by andrew d. Jul 27, 2018 saxophone fingering chart pdf better sax download. One octave major and minor scales alto saxophone baritone saxophone boltz bands concert c major a major. Mar 11, 2015 recently i did a post about the 3 most important jazz scales for beginning improvisers. A minor blues scale is the tried and true scale that you find in. The blues scale for alto saxophone and eb instruments pdf file.
How to play the d blues scale on saxophone beginner. Beginners pdf files part 1 blues scales cafesaxophone forum. Hi, heres a quick video to show you how to play the a blues scale on alto saxophone. Usually, we begin improvising on songs like blues in bb or f, satin doll, maiden voyage, or summertime. A lesson in chord change playing blues melodic interpretation of a jazz standard pdf. I am offering a free pdf of all major and minor blues scales, written out in all keys. In this video dan shows you how to play the blues scale and gives you some practice tips to use on your. Music educational books and sheet music downloads for blues, jazz, funk, latin, gospel, rock, celtic styles for instruments including piano, keyboards, sax. Minors are written out in both major and minor keys. Its a very useful and versatile scale to know and its where you should start your blues saxophone improvisation studies.