Learning The Blues Scale on the Piano
This video shows the basics of playing the C blues scale. The C blues scale consists of the following notes:
C - Eb - F - Gb - G - Bb - C
As we've explained in our video on major and minor triads, a good way to learn your blues scales to understand not only the individual notes of the scale, but also the spacing or intervals between each note. If you know the spacing or interval formula, you'll be able to build a blues scale easily in any key. Below are the intervals in parenthesis between each note on the piano of the C blues scale
C (minor third) Eb (whole step) F (half step) Gb (half step) G (minor third) Bb (whole step) C
Once you understand how the scale is formed, start by playing it slowly to get it comfortable under your fingers. Don't play it too fast until you can play it evenly. Play it up and down, then make up patterns that sound good to your ear. You can also play around with sliding on and off notes. The best notes to slide on in the C blues scale are the F, Gb and G. When sliding, think of how a guitar sounds when you bend a note. This is the sound you are trying to mimic. Once you start to get comfortable with the scale, you can add some left hand patterns such as walking bass or boogie bass. Be creative and have fun with this new set of notes!