How to play the Blues Scale
At some point, almost every guitar player asks how to play the blues scale. Discussing the notes of the scale is easy, but the fingering and position can become a point of contention for many guitarists.
Why is the position and fingering of the blues scale so controversial? Part of the problem lies in the design of the instrument. The guitar can play the same pitch in different neck positions, making learning music more challenging. Finding the pitch, listening to phrasing, and considering positioning is necessary when learning music for the guitar.
In contrast, the layout of a piano is more straightforward. There is only one position on the piano where middle C exists. When you hear a middle C pitch on a piano, you know precisely where to play it.
Learning guitar parts and licks requires more decoding as you must find the pitch and the correct position. The proper position for pitch can vary by genre, which I want to discuss today.
I have seen many videos and articles on playing the blues scale (minor pentatonic scale). The problem with many of these resources is that they fail to mention how genre influences position. Instead, they promote a one-size-fits-all mentality.
Through my guitar lessons in Brooklyn, NYC, I have analyzed a lot of music to teach to students. This experience led me to revise how I teach scales and modes by digging deeper into the nuances of many music genres.
The minor pentatonic scale (blues scale) is one of the most understood scales. However, most online instructors approach this scale from the perspective of guitar shredding, such as Steve Vai or Joe Satriani. Both of these guitarists or genres are great, but if you want to play like Buddy Guy or Freddy King, using the shapes that Vai would use isn't the right tool for the job.
Different shapes allow you to stress different articulations. Unfortunately, various genres of music have different focuses on articulations, which often gets overlooked. Some guitar teachers may not be fluent in the music they're teaching. That's why studying with a fluent teacher in the genre you love is crucial.
The blues has been mislabeled as simple, which is far from the truth. There is a notion that everyone can play the blues. Everyone can learn the notes of the blues scale more easily than a 12-tone scale that Arnold Schoenberg used, but that doesn't mean they can make authentic music with it.
Expression
How you play the music is as important as the notes in the blues. Simply looking at the pitches is only a quarter of the picture.
There are many ways to play the popular minor pentatonic blues scale. Let's look at two positions to play the most basic form of the blues scale.
A few notes about playing the blues scale in the blues genre: when I say blues genre, I mean early Otis Rush, Hubert Sumlin, Magic Sam, Albert King, and Freddy King as a benchmark for electric blues guitar playing.
In general, this era of blues guitar players didn't use their pinkies all that much. I see many blues scale fingerings that notate the use of the pinky, which is appropriate for shredding but not for blues.
Many blues guitarists don't use their pinky as it's much harder to bend with, and there is a lot of bending in the blues. Bending is one of the main articulations used. Speed isn't the goal; multiple ways to "express" a note are.
I'm not saying that I don't use my pinky, but I prefer not to use it when I play blues. Instead, I adapt my technique based on the music I'm playing, using techniques commonly associated with each genre.
The Traveler
The second fork in the road is the lower half of the scale on the A and E strings. Again, the shredding style requires us to use our pinky and stay in the same position.
In blues, instead of remaining in one position, we shift positions. The reason for this shift is to achieve better access to articulations. In addition, keeping our fingers in one position makes it difficult to bend the minor 3rd of the scale, which is a crucial aspect of the blues.
The minor 3rd of the scale is a crucial feature of the blues and is frequently played with a quarter-step bend. It is one of the "blue" notes. We can use our 3rd finger to bend the minor 3rd of the scale by changing positions.
The position shift on the lower half of the monic pentatonic scale is one of the least understood aspects of playing the blues that new blues guitarists often miss.
Perhaps part of the problem is that we only have one label for this scale and position on the neck. We call it the "blues box," but it might have been more beneficial to refer to the blues position as the "blues pentatonic box" and the shredder position as the "shredder pentatonic box."
The shredder box is pretty good. It's an excellent position for quickly moving between the pentatonic scale notes, emphasizing hammer-ons and pull-offs. However, if we want to play the music of Buddy Guy, the type of articulations that are important will change. Slides and bends become more critical.
I would be happy to discuss playing boxes associated with various eras of the blues. In addition, I offer private lessons on Zoom that are tailored to the interests of each guitarist. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me for more information.
