8 Things Every Piano Teacher Should Know About the Blues By Jeremy Siskind (Fullerton College) The 8 Things

1. The blues is a style and a chord progression. 2. You can add chords…and even create a “Bird Blues.” 3. It’s 12 bars…and that’s weird. 4. It focuses on dominant chords…and that’s weird. 5. It only uses one scale…and that’s weird. 6. You can “bend” and “reach” for notes on the piano. 7. You can use notes outside the blues scale. 8. The blues isn’t necessarily sad. 1) The blues is a style and a chord progression

Down BluesStripped Progression 1 I I I I I I 2 I IV I I I I I 3 I V I I I I I

1

I chord 2

IV chord I chord 3

Cadence I chord 2) You can add chords…and even create a “Bird Blues.”

ROCK Blues Progression 1 I I I IV I I I I 2 I IV I I I I I 3 I V I IV I I I I JAZZ Blues Progression

ii-V7 1 I I I IV I I I IV I o7 2 IV vii I V ii-V7 I I V I / I ii I 3 I ii I V7 I I I(ii-V7) I JAZZ Blues Progression

1 I C7 I F7 I C7 IGm7-C7I 7 2 F7 o7 C EØ7-A7 I IF# I G I I 7 7 7 3 IDm7I G I C7 IDm -G I

“BIRD” Blues Progression

1 I C7 I BØ7-E7IAm7-D7IGm7-C7I

7 7 2 I F7 IFm -Bb IEm7-A7IEbm7-Ab7 I

7 7 7 3 IDm7I G I C7 IDm -G I 3) It’s 12 bars…and that’s weird.

+ + + AAB Blues I I I I I I I IV I I I I I I V I I I I I AAB Blues

Oh, my baby left me. She left me yesterday.

Oh, my baby left me. She left me yesterday.

You know that my sweet baby, left me to join MTNA. AAB Blues I I I I I I I IV I I I I I I V I I I I I 4) It focuses on dominant chords…and that’s weird. V-I Blues Progression I C7 I I I I I F7 I I C7 I I I G7 I I C7 I I 5) It only uses one scale…and that’s weird. Abmaj7 chord =

Dmaj7 chord = | Abmaj7 | Dmaj7 | Abmaj7 | Dmaj7 | | Abmaj7 | Dmaj7 | Abmaj7 | Dmaj7 | | Abmaj7 Dmaj7 | Abmaj7 Dmaj7 | | Abmaj7 Dmaj7 | Abmaj7 Dmaj7 |

Don’t change scales. C7

F7 6) You can “bend” and “reach” for notes on the piano.

7) You can use notes outside the blues scale. “Systems” of Improvising Blues Scale

(Plus Arpeggio (Chord Tones) chromatic notes) Scale/Mode For C7 C Blues Scale (C, Eb, F, Gb, G, Bb)

C7 Arpeggio (C, E, G, Bb)

C Mixolydian (C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb) C arpeggio C blues scale C Mixolydian Mode Chorus 1: Blues Scale only

Chorus 2: Arpeggios only

Chorus 3: Mixolydian modes only

Chorus 4: Mix of all 3 8) The blues isn’t necessarily sad.

Jeremy Siskind www.jeremysiskind.com [email protected] The 8 Things

1. The blues is a style and a chord progression. 2. You can add chords…and even create a “Bird Blues.” 3. It’s 12 bars…and that’s weird. 4. It focuses on dominant chords…and that’s weird. 5. It only uses one scale…and that’s weird. 6. You can “bend” notes on the piano. 7. You can do more than just use the blues scale. 8. The blues isn’t necessarily sad.