A Pentatonic Approach to Playing Outside on the Blues
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As an improviser, the blues is central to everything that you do…at once a sound, a form, an expressiveness, and a medium through which you can tell your musical story.
And it’s something that you’ll be dealing with as long as you play an instrument.
You see, the best players not only understand this song form inside and out, from the long tradition of melodies, language, and important solos…
They also have specific techniques for playing outside of the harmony and manipulating key spots in the form when they want to create musical excitement.
And as an aspiring player, these are techniques that you want to have in your back pocket to apply to any tune or solo.
“Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance“
~Wynton MarsalisToday we’re going to explore one such approach to playing outside on the blues. In the Premium lesson below we’ll breakdown our analysis of an iconic solo, focusing on a pentatonic approach to the harmony of the blues.
In particular, you’ll learn:
- All the ins and outs of the Blues form
- The essential transition points in the blues
- A pentatonic approach ...
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