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Oct 15, 2014
Minor Blues: The LEAST You Need to Know
by Brad Carman
The ‘minor blues’ isn’t any one particular tune. Instead it is a chord progression to many tunes. Mr. P.C. and Stolen Moments are probably two of the most famous, but there are countless more. The LEAST you need to know about this tune is that it is in a minor key, and although there are several variations in the exact chords from tune to tune, you can often ‘skate’ over the entire chord progression using nothing more than a key signature and a tiny bit of strategy.
Here is a link to a play-along of the minor blues chord progression. Obviously, the minor blues can be played in any key, at any tempo, and with any groove, but this tempo and groove is a great place to start.
Other play-alongs are available on iTunes or part of other books, including Jamey Aebersold’s play-along volume 57 which is dedicated to the minor blues. There is a track for each key and an additional track which contains one chorus in every key, back-to-back (for the hot-shots out there!).
To solo over this chord progression, you don’t even really need to know the chord progression. For the most part the chords are diatonic, which means they contain only notes from the key. There are exceptions – but, again – you can ‘skate’ over them without any trouble.
The key of C minor has 3 flats (B-flat, E-flat, and A-flat). If you’re a concert pitch instrument, (strings, flute, trombone, oboe, piano/keyboards, etc.), then you’re all set. If you play clarinet, trumpet, tenor sax or any other ‘B-flat’ instrument, you will be in a key signature with only one flat (B-flat). If you play alto or bari sax or any other ‘E-flat’ instrument, you will have no sharps or flats in the key signature. F Horn or other F instruments will have 2 flats to deal with, (B-flat and E-flat).
Write out the notes on paper if you feel you have to, but try to play only from your mind if possible.
If you stick to the key signature, this chord progression will make almost everything you play sound good, although there is one note in particular you know be aware of; the 6th note of the minor scale:
For concert pitch instruments: A-flat
For B-flat instruments: B-flat
For E-flat instruments: F-natural
For F instruments: E-flat
This note will sounds great in a few measures, but will sound pretty awful in more than half of the others. My recommendation is to leave out this note altogether – for now. Since this note is such a bear trap, I find it is better not to deal with it until players really have the sound of the chord progression in the ear AND the sound of the other 6 notes of the scale. Once that is established, a little intuition and a little experimenting and/or a little study will help you find the sweet spots for that “Jekyll and Hyde” note.
There is much more to know about this progression, but there is time for that later. For now, just play and have fun. In time you will become familiar with the sound of the progression. In this way you will ‘know’ the minor blues, even if you don’t ‘know’ it.
Brad Carman is teaching Beyond the Blues Scale: Creative Strategies for Jazz Improvisation at Madison Music Foundry beginning Oct. 25.
BRAD CARMAN
Brad Carman enjoys an unusually diverse musical career. Although primarily a woodwind player, (covering clarinet, flute, and saxophones), Brad began his professional career at age 14, playing lead trumpet for the Juggling Penguins blues and R&B band out of Green Bay, WI. It was only after nearly a decade as a freelance trumpet player and teacher in the Fox Cities and Madison that he picked up a saxophone for the first time and began a new chapter.
Since then, Brad has worked with wind ensembles, orchestras, jazz combos, big bands, and with numerous chamber ensembles, including the UW System Woodwind Ensemble, and Quattro Formaggi Saxophone Quartet which he founded in 2005. He is a charter member of the 9-piece Madison band, The Big Payback, plays principal woodwinds with the Janesville Armory Dinner Theater, and has worked as an entertainer for Carnival Cruise Lines, sailing out of New Orleans, Miami, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Earning his degree in Music Education from UW Madison, and awarded the first ever Gerald B. Olson Award for excellence in music education, he has held positions at Beloit College, Madison West High School, Ward-Brodt Education Department, Stoughton High School, and is a regular instructor for the UW Summer Music Clinic. Brad is frequently called upon as a master class instructor, ensemble coach, and clinician for middle schools, high schools, and universities and has maintained one of the most active private studios in Madison, WI for over 15 years.