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blues theory


thunderbird13
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I’ve got an audition for a blues band coming up and although I ‘ve played lots of blues before its always been in a rock setting and I was wondering if I should brush up a the theory side a bit more , the forms, turnarounds , anything to stop me just playing the blues scale along to every line. :lol:

Cheers

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Music theory is mostly just theory and not really 'genre specific'. A major scale is a major scale etc. You can certainly get some pretty useful stuff under your belt by having a look at the basic theoretical concepts around chord theory and scales. Guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robben Ford sound so fresh because they don't just stick to the basic scales. But never underestimate the value of the basic blues scales. There is a world of music in there (Jazz/fusion pianist Chick Corea is very blues scale orientated, as it happens).

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[quote name='thunderbird13' timestamp='1332757526' post='1592492']
I’ve got an audition for a blues band coming up and although I ‘ve played lots of blues before its always been in a rock setting and I was wondering if I should brush up a the theory side a bit more , the forms, turnarounds , anything to stop me just playing the blues scale along to every line. :lol:

Cheers
[/quote]

If it's what I would call a traditional Chicago / Texas type Blues band, this would be a good book to look into:

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blues-Bass-Essential-Techniques-Leonard/dp/0634089358"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blues-Bass-Essential-Techniques-Leonard/dp/0634089358[/url]

I bought this recently (cost me £9.95), and covers subjects such as turnarounds, hits & stops, shuffles, 12/8 Blues etc. It also has transcripts of the bass parts from classics like Key to the Highway, Thrill is Gone, I'm Tore Down, Pride & Joy, and many others.

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Like Bilbo said,it's not genre specific. However,a lot of Blues is based around dominant 7
chords(1,3,5,b7), knowing about those (and the other forms of 7 chords) will help. Scale wise,there
is a lot of use of the minor Pentatonic ( 1,b3,4,5,b7) and the Blues scale,which is a minor
Pentatonic with a chromatic note between the 4 and 5 (1,b3,4,b5,5,b7).
It's interesting that the minor Pentatonic is used over dominant 7 chords....the b3 of the
minor pentatonic scale tends to function as the #9 of the chord.

The Blues actually relies on as much theory as any other kind of music....it's just whether you
choose to study it or not (like anything else).

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Thanks for the replies - yes Mr Feidland will be on my shopping list as I like his approach , as far as the genre is concerned I'm pretty sure its standard 12 bar type stuff. although I'm waiting to see the full set list.

I suppose I'm looking for a bit of theory to get me out of the rut which I find myself in.

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As someone mentioned above, depending on genre, Stevie Ray Vaughan's Tommy Shannon a good one. His bassist plays simple enough, solid lines that encompass a lot of the usual little runs, chromatic movements, turnarounds, etc. He has no interest in "showing off", as far as I can tell. You'll notice he'll use near-identical lines in different tunes, and they just work. I'd recommend listening to early Fleetwood Mac as well - McVie is similar to Shannon in that he serves the music very nicely, holds it down, works the "canonical blues bass" nicely. These guys served me very well starting out gigging blues a couple of years ago.

Know your intros/outros...in practice you can get away with knowing a handful of variations...and stay the hell away from the major 7!

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1332782030' post='1593046']
As well as all the excellent advice given so far, don't forget that blues needs to be played with "feeling". A doctorate in music theory would not go far in blues, unless played this way. ;)
[/quote]
That's applicable for any style though.....but knowledge and 'feeling' together win.

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I played in a Country/Blues band several years ago alot of 12 bar type stuff and soon got my knuckles wrapped for trying to be to clever at times....just keep it simple and lock in with the drummer and you'll be fine.....I blagged my audition with them with some basic blues riffs and got the job.
But then i started to try impress and like i say soon got put in my place....Good Luck.

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[quote name='thebigyin' timestamp='1332791470' post='1593240']
I played in a Country/Blues band several years ago alot of 12 bar type stuff and soon got my knuckles wrapped for trying to be to clever at times....just keep it simple and lock in with the drummer and you'll be fine.....I blagged my audition with them with some basic blues riffs and got the job.
But then i started to try impress and like i say soon got put in my place....Good Luck.
[/quote]

One thing that really comes through in Ed Friedland's book is that the bass rarely (if ever) gets called on to do a solo in a Blues band. The prime function is to hold it down with the drummer & highlight the vocalist / guitar / keyboard / harmonica's talents.

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[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1332782445' post='1593055']
That's applicable for any style though.....[/quote]


I agree, but IMO, of all the different types of music out there, "feeling" is an absolute essential part of blues. Even if only root notes are being played.

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[color=#222222]
[quote name='louisthebass' timestamp='1332796548' post='1593369']
One thing that really comes through in Ed Friedland's book is that the bass rarely (if ever) gets called on to do a solo in a Blues band. The prime function is to hold it down with the drummer & highlight the vocalist / guitar / keyboard / harmonica's talents.
[/quote][/color][color=#222222]
[color=#222222]The problem that I have with the Ed Friedland book is that he keeps it a bit too simple! If you listen to Tommy Shannon or especially someone like Roscoe Beck (Robben Ford's old bass player), you will find that they like to keep a line moving and the stuff they are playing is not necessarily [b]that [/b]simple in execution, even if the basic concepts are![/color]
[color=#222222][/color]
[color=#222222]I would make sure that you can cover all the basic feels (slow blues, shuffles, etc) and practice as many ways of playing thru the I-IV-V changes in a slow blues as you can think of, until it becomes second nature to be able to vary your lines slightly for each chorus…..[/color][/color]
[color=#222222][/color]

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[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1332800151' post='1593445']


[color=#222222][color=#222222]The problem that I have with the Ed Friedland book is that he keeps it a bit too simple! If you listen to Tommy Shannon or especially someone like Roscoe Beck (Robben Ford's old bass player), you will find that they like to keep a line moving and the stuff they are playing is not necessarily [b]that [/b]simple in execution, even if the basic concepts are![/color][/color]
[/quote]

Point taken - Tommy Shannon was really cool on those SRV albums. A player who knew when to hold it down, and chose his moments to shine really well. I thought Robben Ford & the Blue Line were a great "modern" blues / rock trio (a bit like Cream in some respects) & Roscoe Beck is a great bassist.

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[quote name='louisthebass' timestamp='1332760964' post='1592587']
I bought this recently (cost me £9.95), and covers subjects such as turnarounds, hits & stops, shuffles, 12/8 Blues etc. It also has transcripts of the bass parts from classics like Key to the Highway, Thrill is Gone, I'm Tore Down, Pride & Joy, and many others.
[/quote]
I went for an audition with a blues band and bought the Ed Friedland book. Worked for me as a very quick primer. I second the recommendation.

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