Blues scale

The term "blues scale" is used describe a few scales with differing number of pitches and related characteristics.

The hexatonic, or six note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus the music|sharp4 or music|flat5 degree [Ferguson, Jim (2000). "All Blues Scale for Jazz Guitar", p.6. ISBN 0786652136.] Arnold, Bruce (2002). "The Essentials: Chord Charts, Scales and Lead Patterns for Guitar", p.8. ISBN 1890944947.] [Harrison, Mark (2003). "Blues Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series", p.8. ISBN 0634061690.] . A major feature of the blues scale is the use of blue notescite web |title=The Pentatonic and Blues Scale |publisher=How To Play Blues Guitar |date=2008-07-09 |accessdate=2008-07-11 |url=http://how-to-play-blues-guitar.com/blues-concepts/the-pentatonic-and-blues-scale/] , however, since blue notes are considered alternate inflections, a blues scale may be considered to not fit the traditional definition of a scale [J. Bradford Robinson/Barry Kernfeld. "Blue Note", "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz", Second Edition, London (2002)] . At its most basic, a single version of this "blues scale" is commonly used over all changes (or chords) in a twelve bar blues progressioncite web |title=Blues Licks From Blues Scales |publisher=Between the Licks |date=2008-02-25 |accessdate=2008-06-24 |url=http://betweenthelicks.com/blues-guitar/blues-licks-from-blues-scales] . Likewise, in contemporary jazz theory, its use is commonly based upon the key and not the individual chord.

The heptatonic, or seven note, conception of the "blues scale" is as a diatonic scale (a major scale) with lowered third, fifth, and seventh degrees [Smallwood, Richard (1980). "Gospel and Blues Improvisation" p.102, "Music Educators Journal", Vol. 66, No. 5. (Jan., 1980), p.100-104.] and blues practice is derived from the "conjunction of 'African scales' and the diatonic western scales" [Oliver, Paul. "That Certain Feeling: Blues and Jazz... in 1890?" p.13, "Popular Music", Vol. 10, No. 1, The 1890s. (Jan., 1991), pp. 11-19. Cites Rudi Blesh.] . Steven Smith argues that, "to assign blues notes to a 'blues scale' is a momentous mistake, then, after all, unless we alter the meaning of 'scale' [Smith, Steven G. (1992). "Blues and Our Mind-Body Problem", "Popular Music", Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jan., 1992), pp. 41-52.] .

Despite this, an essentially nine note blues scale is defined by Benward and Saker [Benward & Saker (2003). "Music: In Theory and Practice", Vol. I, p.39. Seventh Edition. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.] as a chromatic variation of the major scale featuring a flat third and seventh degrees which, "alternating with the normal third and seventh scale degrees are used to create the blues inflection. These 'blue notes' represent the influence of African scales on this music." [Gunther Schuller. "Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development" (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), pp.46-52). Cited in Benward & Saker (2003), p.39.]

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