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You are here: Home / Jazz Lessons / Blues Scales / Using the Blues Scale Part 3
Using the Blues Scale Part 3

Using the Blues Scale Part 3

Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 2 customer ratings
(2 customer reviews)

$9.99

SKU: 158 Category: Blues Scales Tags: blues scale, minor chords, note resolutions, steve neff
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  • Reviews (2)
  • Lesson Sample

Description

Using the Blues Scale-Part 3.  I always tell my students that all they need to know to get a gig is their blues scales.  They always think I’m joking and that there is no way it can be that easy but the truth is that 90-95% of today’s songs are in one key.  The band vamps and plays the same groove and key for the whole song.  The person that can stand up and play an authoritative solo using the blues scale is the one who will get the gig.   Unfortunately, most of the young players today don’t really know their blues scales like they should.  Sure, they all say that they do but then when I have them play a solo using one it is usually dead, lifeless and uncreative.  The problem is that most young people today are given advice to use a blues scale on this solo or that solo but then no one ever shows them how to use it.  They are just given the scale and told to improvise.

In this lesson I take on the job of showing you exactly how to use each note of the blues scale over major,minor and dominant grooves.   I teach about each individual note of the scale and how it relates to the chord behind it.  I also talk in depth about what I feel are the tendencies of each note and tactics that I use when playing the blues scale over static backgrounds and chords.  Part 3 is mainly focused on using the C blues scale over a C minor chord as well as adding the notes A and D to the scale to create more of a Dorian sound. I demonstrate all of these sounds on the tenor sax with a background track playing behind me so you can hear how these ideas sound to the music.  Listen to these 3 lesson on the blues scale, practice like crazy and I’ll see you out there on a gig one of these days!  Enjoy! (27 minute video lesson)

2 reviews for Using the Blues Scale Part 3

  1. Avatar
    Rated 5 out of 5

    Jazzsurfer (verified owner) – October 2, 2009

    These are a great addition to the already excellent audio versions of ‘Using the Blues Scales 1 & 2″. I would recommend getting both the audio versions and the videos. My reasoning is that the audio versions give you a great introduction about the scales, how to use, and what other notes you can throw in – but with specific reference to the D Blues scale. The videos do the same thing with specific reference to the A & C Blues scales therefore giving the student a whole bunch of licks, ideas, etc in at least 3 Blues scales.

    On the audio versions I use software that slows the licks down and enables me to really get the stuff that Steve plays under my fingers. It’s then much easier to change the key (again using the software) and learn them in the new key.

    The whole suite of Blues stuff is (in my opinion) much better value than the other stuff that I have bought (books etc) so much so that I am going to ditch the books and just concentrate on the stuff Steve produces. For me it shed light on the whole thing – filled in the gaps and has given me solid ammo that I can use on gigs.

    Great stuff Steve – and thank you.

  2. Avatar
    Rated 5 out of 5

    Peter (verified owner) – April 14, 2012

    The best lessons,explanation on blue scales using blue scales ever.thanks

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Lesson Sample

https://public.neffmusic.com/Using%20the%20Blues%20Scale%20Part%203%20(Video)%20clip.mp4

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Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
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Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
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Your material is great! I got your New Altissimo Lesson 6 months ago and I have learned more from that than in all my 44 years of playing! I appreciate your down to earth teaching method and I really appreciate the heart that you teach with. I have been a subscriber to your lessons for the past 6 months and I have learned a great deal. Over that period of time I have had some questions and you have never failed to respond. Thanks! I have already recommended your lessons to a number of players in… Read more

Michael Byington
Your lessons on playing the blues is so clear . I have been through many books on blues playing and not one of them explains as clear as your lessons . Most of them say “Play the same blues scale over all three chords of a 12 bar blues ” Its very misleading .     Thanks
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I can see from your instructional videos that you are a fantastic teacher – one that can truly relate to all ages – humble yet very positive in approach – never coming across as superior and yet so totally capable of demonstrating the principles and techniques that you seek to impart to the students. I have gained so much confidence in my playing from “pouring over” time and again these invaluable lessons. Invaluable not only in musical content, but also in human interaction content. I am absolu… Read more
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Michael Byington
I am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.   I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more  bite sized way.
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I’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
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