A simpler way to get that Jon Batiste blues sound

Reader,

I saw a video on YouTube where Jon Batiste showed off his secret "Jon Batiste Blues Scale", which was a 10 note scale.

Don't get me wrong, Jon Batiste plays a mean blues. He could probably get a chicken to sing the blues.

But regular folk like us need some more constraints, and the 6 note blues scale we've been playing works really well.

But, does this mean we'll never be able to play the same lines as Jon? No. There's an even simpler way to get there, and I think it's just as effective.

Introducing, a new Blues Scale

The last few weeks we've been on a bit of a blues deep dive. We are just starting to learn St. Louis Blues in the key of G, and so we've been improvising using our G blues scale.

But, to get some of those other colors like Jon Batiste, we need a few more notes. A great way to do that is by playing the blues scale from a minor 3rd below the root. Here in the key of G, that's the E blues scale.

When you play the E blues scale in the key of G, with the major 3rd, the 6th, and the 9th, we get a sweeter sound.

Like the G blues scale, the E blues scale works over all the chords in the tune. They just give you different flavors. You're not picking one scale for certain chords and the other for different chords. You're choosing which flavor you want in that moment.

Friday Masterclass: Learn how to use these two blues scales together to create compelling blues solos over St. Louis Blues

You are already on the list.

See you Friday, Feb 13, at 1:00 Eastern.

Two flavors, not one combined scale

When you solo, think these scales one at a time, not combined.

These two scales give you two different flavors you can mix and match. When I'm soloing, I use one scale at a time, paired with the chord tones. I might switch which scale I'm using phrase by phrase, but I'm really only thinking one of them at a time.

Practice This Week

1. Comp the changes to the 12 Bar Blues in G in your left hand
2. Practice running the G blues scale in 8th notes and 8th note triplets over the changes.
3. Now, do the same thing, but with the E blues scale. Notice the different flavor. E is sweet, G is spicy. Can you hear it?
4. Practice creating solo phrases over the changes. Change up which scale you use, and pick it based on the flavor that you want.

One Note is All You Need to Improvise

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I screwed up the release of this video, so YouTube probably hid it from you. I think you'll enjoy it though. If you watch it, hit "like," and leave a comment. Maybe we can get YouTube to play nicely again.