Discover Which Notes Are Authentic Blue Notes

“Which notes are authentic blue notes?” According to Gerhard Kubik:

… blue notes have been described as “a microtonal lowering of the 3^rd, 7^th, and (to a lesser extent) 5^th scale degrees.” (15)

For example, it’s easiest if we begin by comparing the notes in C major, C minor, C minor pentatonic, and C blues:

• C major: C D E F G A B C
• C minor: C D E^b F G A^b B^b C
• C minor pentatonic: C E^b F G B^b C
• C blues: C E^b F G^b G B^b C

Let’s discuss the scales:

• When you look at C major and C minor, you can see that C minor lowers (flattens) the third, sixth, and seventh notes in the scale.
• The minor pentatonic then removes the second and sixth notes, leaving us with five unique notes (“penta-” means “five”).
• The blues scale then adds a flattened fifth to the pentatonic scale.
• On flexible pitch instruments such as sax, slide guitar, fretless bass, and vocals, these notes will be microtonally altered from equal temperament.
• In blues and rock, the blues scale is usually played over major chords. The clash between the major third in the chords and the minor third in the scales is characteristic of these styles.

However, this is a very music theory-ish way to look at the scale. Blues players are usually ear people who don’t really think that much about music theory. Kubik State:

Significantly, in the United States blues musicians do not normally talk about “blue notes” or any other intervals supposed to be special, unless they have adopted the jargon of music critics or musicologists. (15)