Blues Scale in D

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman and in this lesson we're going to learn how to play and improvise using the blues scale in D.
Let's come to the piano to get started.
Today I'd like to notice how similar the blues scale is to the natural minor scale.
Here's the D natural minor scale, which we've learned.
To get the blues scale, we take away the second note of the scale.
We take away the sixth note of the scale,
and then we add an extra half step in between
these two pitches here.
This is the blues scale.
Let's point and name each of these pitches.
Say it with me. D F G G-sharp A C D.
Now to play it with the right hand, let's use finger 1 2 3 4. So kind of think of a group of 4 right there.
Can you play this as a cluster?
Notice the skip of a third right here. 1 2 3 4, then our finger 1 comes under,
and then we have a group of 3, and once again our fingers 1 2 is going to play a third.
So play this as a cluster that A C D,
and then try them one at a time.
Let's put it all together. We have 1 2 3 4 1 2 3.
Pause the video and practice that scale up and down using that finger,
then press play to go on.
Now let me show you a way you can make that sound even cooler.
Once you get all the way up and back down,
you can cross over to that C below for a cool ending to the scale.
You can kind of swing your notes to make it sound more jazzy.
Okay, pause the video and just experiment going up and down that scale and adding in that step below
at the end.
Try swinging it, have some fun, then press play to go on.
Now if you want to go two octaves, you can go 1 2 3 4 1 2, then bring your thumb under again
so it's kind of a group of four then a group of two.
Group of four, group of two. 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 2 and you can use a 3 on top.
1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 2
Okay, now press pause and try a two octave D blue scale, then press play to go on.
Now let's talk about some ideas for improvising with the blues scale.
In a minute, I'm going to play an accompaniment using a blues pattern,
and I'd like you to improvise in the D blues scale.
Remember, a few tips about improvising: don't just play an endless stream of notes.
That would be kind of like a big long run-on sentence that never stops.
You want to share your ideas in music in
little sentences.
Give me a short idea. It could be as simple as:
I just used two notes to make a little theme.
It can be that simple.
And then take that theme and expand on it.
You can vary it with two different notes.
You can use swing, you can try different rhythms. Even a repeating note is fun.
In some ways the simpler the better,
and then once you've established your simple idea, find ways to grow that idea and expand on it.
So, pause the video and I want you to practice improvising different patterns using any of the notes of this D blues scale.
You know, find groups of three or two notes that you think sound really cool together.
Okay, if you stick with a small group of notes and then explore them,
you'll find a lot of possibilities within just
a small range of notes.
Then when you want to make it more exciting,
you know maybe then you drive higher in the scale.
Okay, pause the video and just practice some different patterns. Explore different sounds that you like,
and then we'll try putting it together with an accompaniment, and you can just really have lots of fun.
All right, it's time to improvise. Here's the pattern that I'll be playing:
Okay, so while I play that pattern, I'll repeat it several times, you can
play around and have fun improvising in the D blues scale.
Remember, there's no right or wrong notes just have fun making some musical ideas happen.
This is called jamming, so just have some fun jamming with me. 1 2 3 4
Now if you had fun doing that, I encourage you to continue to practice improvising
with the backing track, which has a similar accompaniment to what I just played,
which you can download from our website.
Great job learning to play and improvise using the blues scale in D.
Happy improvising, and see you next time!
Since today's lesson was about the blues scale, we'd like to share with you some of our favorite things that are blue!
That's right!
First off,
blue skies! What a beautiful day.
Or blueberries!
Blue birds!
Hey there little birdies.
And blue sharks!
What!?
Why would you say that?
Did somebody say shark?
Aaaaah!