{"id":17444,"date":"2025-09-09T19:15:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/?p=17444"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:00:49","slug":"blues-connotation-ornette-coleman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/blues-connotation-ornette-coleman\/","title":{"rendered":"Blues Connotation (Ornette Coleman)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 160%; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;\">Blues Connotation (also known as <em>P.S. Unless One Has<\/em>) is the opening track of Ornette Coleman&#8217;s fifth studio album, <em>This Is Our Music<\/em>, released in 1960. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the melody on guitar. It\u2019s a fun tune that&#8217;s comfortable to play and very approachable for guitarists.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17451\" style=\"margin-top: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connation-ornette-coleman.jpg\" alt=\"Blues Connotation (Ornette Coleman) from the album This Is Our Music\" width=\"300\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connation-ornette-coleman.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connation-ornette-coleman-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connation-ornette-coleman-48x48.jpg 48w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Blues Connotation is a great example of how Coleman blends familiar jazz forms with his own unique harmonic and rhythmic ideas.<\/p>\n<p>The song uses a traditional 12-bar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/jazz-blues-chord-progressions\/\">jazz blues progression<\/a> in Bb, but with a twist: bar 11 is shortened to 2\/4 during the theme.<\/p>\n<p>This rhythmic shift is typical of Coleman&#8217;s music, respecting jazz traditions while pushing the boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>The original recording is quite fast at about 264 BPM. For this lesson, I slowed it down to 180 BPM, making it easier to hear the phrasing and play it comfortably on guitar.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended listening:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ornette Coleman &#8211; <em>This is Our Music<\/em> (1960)<\/li>\n<li>Chick Corea &#8211; <em>The Beginning<\/em> (1970)<\/li>\n<li>Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea &#8211; <em>Play<\/em> (1992)<\/li>\n<li>John Abercrombie &#8211; <em>Within A Song<\/em> (2012)<\/li>\n<li>Roben Ford (with Bill Frisell) &#8211; <em>City Life<\/em> (2013)<\/li>\n<li>Christian McBride (with Mike Stern) &#8211; <em>The Q Sessions<\/em> (2021)<\/li>\n<li>Julian Lage &#8211; Live<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Download the PDF, backing track, and audio with <strong>JGO+<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/courses\/product\/jgo-download-pass\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blues_connotation_li1\">Click here to join<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/courses\/my-account\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blues_connotation_li2\">Member log in<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/courses\/product\/jgo-download-pass\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blues_connotation_top\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19706 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf.png\" alt=\"Dowload PDF and backing tracks\" width=\"779\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf.png 779w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf-300x93.png 300w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf-768x239.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 779px) 100vw, 779px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Blues Connotation &#8211; Video<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\">\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-2eb8gla6mv8\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer &apos;none&apos;;autoplay &apos;none&apos;;bluetooth &apos;none&apos;;browsing-topics &apos;none&apos;;camera &apos;none&apos;;clipboard-read &apos;none&apos;;clipboard-write;display-capture &apos;none&apos;;encrypted-media &apos;none&apos;;gamepad &apos;none&apos;;geolocation &apos;none&apos;;gyroscope &apos;none&apos;;hid &apos;none&apos;;identity-credentials-get &apos;none&apos;;idle-detection &apos;none&apos;;keyboard-map &apos;none&apos;;local-fonts;magnetometer &apos;none&apos;;microphone &apos;none&apos;;midi &apos;none&apos;;otp-credentials &apos;none&apos;;payment &apos;none&apos;;picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create &apos;none&apos;;publickey-credentials-get &apos;none&apos;;screen-wake-lock &apos;none&apos;;serial &apos;none&apos;;summarizer &apos;none&apos;;sync-xhr;usb &apos;none&apos;;web-share;window-management &apos;none&apos;;xr-spatial-tracking &apos;none&apos;;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-2eb8gla6mv8\" data-lenis-prevent=\"\" data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/2eb8GLa6MV8?feature=oembed&amp;rel=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name=\"\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/2eb8GLa6MV8?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0&#038;iv_load_policy=3&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;autohide=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autoplay=0\" title=\"\" width=\"900\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"http:\\\/\\\/schema.org\\\/\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jazzguitar.be\\\/blog\\\/blues-connotation-ornette-coleman\\\/#arve-youtube-2eb8gla6mv8\",\"@type\":\"VideoObject\",\"embedURL\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\\/embed\\\/2eb8GLa6MV8?feature=oembed&rel=0&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0\"}<\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Blues Connotation &#8211; Notation\/Guitar Tabs<\/h2>\n<p>Although the melody contains several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/guitar-arpeggios\/\">arpeggios<\/a> and chromatic ideas, it is largely based on the Bb <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/minor-pentatonic-scale\/\">minor pentatonic scale<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a breakdown of the main melodic devices found in the head:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The melody opens with a pedal tone F (5th of Bb) combined with a chromatic phrase.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bar 3<\/strong> starts with the Bb minor pentatonic scale and ends with an F minor triad.<\/li>\n<li>In <strong>bar 5<\/strong>, the Bb minor pentatonic scale is used over Eb7.<\/li>\n<li>In <strong>bars 6 to 8<\/strong>, a Gm7\u266d5 arpeggio is used over Bb7.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bar 9<\/strong> uses the Bb minor pentatonic scale over Cm7. The phrase concludes in <strong>bar 10<\/strong> with a pedal tone Bb combined with a chromatic phrase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Backing Track<\/p>\n<div class=\"waveplayer-container\"><div id=\"waveplayer-6d8e53f0cb3ee8558613ad9d013d9a59-6a6536025b055\" class=\"waveplayer loading wvpl-skin-w2-evolution wvpl-palette-800e3a14c86733ad9ccc96fd80850d88 wvpl-style-light wvpl-size-xs wvpl-shape-rounded \" data-limit=\"0\" data-mode=\"normal\" data-config_id=\"6d8e53f0cb3ee8558613ad9d013d9a59\" data-instance_id=\"6d8e53f0cb3ee8558613ad9d013d9a59-6a64d0574b591\">\n\t<div class=\"wvpl-left-box\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/audiobg.png)\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-interface\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-volume-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-info\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-controls\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-prev wvpl-disabled\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-play\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-next wvpl-disabled\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-volume wvpl-volume_up\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-poster\"><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wvpl-right-box\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-overlay\">\n\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t<use xlink:href=\"#waveform-animation\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"percentage\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-loading\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-loading-progress\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"message\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-position\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-duration\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-waveform\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-infobar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-playing-info\"><div class=\"wvpl-infoblock\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wvpl-playlist\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-playlist-wrapper\"><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Listen &amp; Play-Along<\/p>\n<div class=\"waveplayer-container\"><div id=\"waveplayer-358d36d09924e437f2c0c86841d95dbe-6a6536025c8e4\" class=\"waveplayer loading wvpl-skin-w2-evolution wvpl-palette-800e3a14c86733ad9ccc96fd80850d88 wvpl-style-light wvpl-size-xs wvpl-shape-rounded \" data-limit=\"0\" data-mode=\"normal\" data-config_id=\"358d36d09924e437f2c0c86841d95dbe\" data-instance_id=\"358d36d09924e437f2c0c86841d95dbe-6a64d0574c99f\">\n\t<div class=\"wvpl-left-box\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/audiobg.png)\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-interface\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-volume-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-info\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-controls\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-prev wvpl-disabled\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-play\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-next wvpl-disabled\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-icon wvpl-volume wvpl-volume_up\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-poster\"><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wvpl-right-box\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-overlay\">\n\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t<use xlink:href=\"#waveform-animation\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"percentage\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-loading\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-loading-progress\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"message\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-position\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-duration\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-waveform\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-infobar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-playing-info\"><div class=\"wvpl-infoblock\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wvpl-playlist\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wvpl-playlist-wrapper\"><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17445 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-1.png\" alt=\"Blues Connotation guitar tabs page 1\" width=\"1180\" height=\"1193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-1.png 1180w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-1-297x300.png 297w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-1-1013x1024.png 1013w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-1-768x776.png 768w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-1-48x48.png 48w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17446 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-2.png\" alt=\"Blues Connotation guitar tabs page 2\" width=\"1180\" height=\"1051\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-2.png 1180w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-2-300x267.png 300w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-2-1024x912.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/blues-connotation-2-768x684.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Download the PDF, backing track, and audio with <strong>JGO+<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/courses\/product\/jgo-download-pass\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blues_connotation_li3\">Click here to join<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/courses\/my-account\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blues_connotation_li4\">Member log in<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/courses\/product\/jgo-download-pass\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blues_connotation_bottom\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19706 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf.png\" alt=\"Dowload PDF and backing tracks\" width=\"779\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf.png 779w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf-300x93.png 300w, https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/download-pdf-768x239.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 779px) 100vw, 779px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blues Connotation (also known as P.S. Unless One Has) is the opening track of Ornette Coleman&#8217;s fifth studio album, This Is Our Music, released in 1960. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the melody on guitar. It\u2019s a fun tune that&#8217;s comfortable to play and very approachable for guitarists. Blues Connotation is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jazz-standards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17444"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20155,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17444\/revisions\/20155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jazzguitar.be\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}