F Blues is an engaging scale for every pianist to master, providing ample opportunity for soloing, riffing and improvising over blues songs!
It is constructed from natural minor scale notes (see previous step) by adding a flattened 5th interval. This creates the “blue note” interval. There are six blues scale notes and three flats.
Key
F blues is one of the most widely-used keys for blues music, featuring all notes in a minor pentatonic scale (with an additional flattened fifth note – blue note) as well as minor major scale notes that allow improvising over any song form in this key. There are various methods for approaching blues improvisation, however using a blues scale will make starting out much simpler and assist in developing your playing in F blues key.
Step one in creating the F blues scale is to erect an F natural minor scale. This step shows its notes on piano, treble and bass clefs. When looking at its minor pentatonic scale notes they look almost identical to major scale notes but with sharp and flat names. This occurs because blues does not follow music theory rules associated with diatonic scales such as major and all minor scales.
To create the blues scale from an F minor pentatonic scale in Step 1, add B as the blue note by flattening out C to B in Step 4; blues scales are often created this way due to half-step closeness/semiantonearity issues in diatonic scales which prevent notes from being repeated exactly.
For a deeper dive into this scale’s notes and construction, see our Level 1 Blues Scale Lesson. It includes chord charts as well as five positions of this scale on the fretboard.
Scale
The F blues scale is an excellent place to begin when learning blues guitar. Not only does it contain all major tones, but it also includes the characteristic flat fifth (blue note). Once you master this scale, use it to compose many licks that fit any chord progression perfectly!
When playing in a blues key, it’s crucial to take note of the key of each song you improvise over. This will enable you to decide what kind of licks will fit best with it and help prevent mistakes that could cause your solo to clash with rhythm or tone of the music. This is particularly pertinent with songs featuring swing, as the scale may shift accordingly.
To determine the key of a song, start by studying its lyrics or listening to an instrumental version and identifying how musicians are employing chords. Next, referring to its scale diagram or fretboard chart will help identify where blues scales are played on fretboard positions. JGuitar’s Scale Calculator can generate fretboard charts that highlight notes within any chosen scale as well as finger patterns for playing each position of fretboard chart.
This step provides the octave of notes in the key of F, along with letter names corresponding to each note. Clicking on the piano button allows you to hear samples of these being played; this will help determine which guitar string would be suitable when learning the scale.
This step shows a fretboard diagram for the blues scale in F, built by adding an added flat fifth note – or blue note) into a minor pentatonic scale that already existed in this key. Because a flat fifth interval contains the same interval as minor second note, blues scale does not follow traditional musical theory rules for diatonic scales such as major and minor which specifies each note must only ever appear once within any scale.
Melody
Although based on the same notes as its major scale counterpart, F blues scale has its own distinct sound. It contains three flattened notes compared to major scale that makes it sound more chromatic; plus there are two extra tones (due to flattened b5 note). Due to these changes it may be more challenging for new guitarists to learn; however many F blues scales have alternate fingerings to help newcomers to play faster and learn quicker.
Melodies for blues songs typically utilize phrases and patterns rather than scale runs, as this style stems from call and response between vocal lyric and instrumental filler; its origins lie in work songs from African slaves as well as African Americans enslaved to work. Furthermore, improvisational blues often breaks with traditional jazz harmonic conventions and melodic conventions.
While there are various approaches to playing blues melodies, the most straightforward is usually playing it on the root chord of the song’s key (if C is used as the key of course!). That way it fits seamlessly with chord progression and creates an unforgettable sound.
Use of the minor pentatonic scale is another way to play blues melodies effectively, drawing from its foundation as the natural minor scale while adding one additional note – flattened b5 note in this instance – can produce melodic content that creates tension within musical phrases and will add color and chromaticism.
Additionally, the blues scale is closely related to the minor pentatonic scale; both have chord tonal bases that serve as their basis. By knowing any minor pentatonic scale in any key, one can quickly play blues scale melodies in that key.
Finally, the blues scale is connected to major scales via intervals. For instance, the blues scale in C relates with C major through the chord tones E and G in its chord tones; both major and minor blues scales utilize E and G as pentatonic scale notes.
Chords
F blues chords are typically played in the flat keys of F, Bb & Eb. These keys tend to be preferred by horn instrumentalists such as saxophone & trumpet players due to the way their lower pitches match these instruments’ lower notes better. Blues is often played in C too but most jazz musicians tend to favor F for its brighter sound.
As part of learning blues chords, it is crucial not only to master their fundamental shapes but also how they interrelate and shift between chords – this gives each chord its “color”, making blues so distinctively American!
A standard 12-bar blues progression consists of 12 four-bar segments called “bars.” Each bar culminates with either an I-V-IV turnaround or transitioning directly into its successor segment (i.e. IV-V-I). Furthermore, its final bar may feature additional harmonic flourishes, such as an added ii/V or V/V harmony.
Each twelve-bar blues chord progression illustrated in this article has its own distinctive set of voicings that give it its distinct sound. Jazz musicians frequently alter the basic blues scale used for improvisation by flattening certain notes – especially 3rds – creating tension essential to a blues progression’s sound.
Jazz musicians typically add flattened 3rds to a minor pentatonic scale by including flattened thirds with sharp fifths; this creates the basic blues scale depicted below in F.
Alterations in these scales can create some truly captivating sounds when played in various rhythms, as seen below. To assist in developing this technique, we offer several F blues chord charts downloadable as PDF files; they show each chord’s bass note and indicate which finger to use to play it.