Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
There is No Blues Scale - Decolonizing Jazz Education
The six note blues scale is a lame shortcut that won't get you to the next level as a jazz or blues improviser. I make my case in this video that the blues scale is a red herring in the quest for authentic blues/jazz vocabulary and a meaningful sound. Relevant for guitar, saxophone, piano, trumpet, singers, and any other musicians who improvise on blues or jazz related styles of Black American Music.
The article I quote is by Fred Wei-Han Ho originally found in Sounding Off: Music as Subersion/Resistance/Revolution (1996) and a scan can be read here for now at least: acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A740436ff-460d-4ddb-8976-e5a61299a693&viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover
I believe all the copyrighted material I used falls under fair use.
Credit to @MrSunnybass for the excellent All Blues bassline playalong. His channel is a fantastic resource for practicing.
There is No Blues Scale - Decolonizing Jazz Education
The six note blues scale is a lame shortcut that won't get you to the next level as a jazz or blues improviser. I make my case in this video that the blues scale is a red herring in the quest for authentic blues/jazz vocabulary and a meaningful sound. Relevant for guitar, saxophone, piano, trumpet, singers, and any other musicians who improvise on blues or jazz related styles of Black American Music.
The article I quote is by Fred Wei-Han Ho originally found in Sounding Off: Music as Subersion/Resistance/Revolution (1996) and a scan can be read here for now at least: acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A740436ff-460d-4ddb-8976-e5a61299a693&viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover
I believe all the copyrighted material I used falls under fair use.
Credit to @MrSunnybass for the excellent All Blues bassline playalong. His channel is a fantastic resource for practicing.
