Bluez scale

[Strat-itis]

Discuss jazz lines using primarily bluez scale.

But how to make it function well as jazz by using natural melodic contour, not just running up and down. And how to add notes or harmonic gestures while keeping it sounding blues scale.

I can be high falutin about how it's so easy to scale, arp, interval, and chromatic your way to jazz lines, but blues scale gives me more trouble.

[pamosmusic]

Jim Hall on the whole Jazz Guitar album.

This one is great. Sort of treats that Db as a vamp and goes full blues on it.

A lot of great blues licks but m28-33 is smoking

jim hall - stompin.pdf - Google Drive

[AllanAllen]

Listen to Lester Young, Charlie Christian, Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell... If it's got to be vibraphone, maybe Lionel Hampton in the Benny Goodman Quartet, he let the guys rip blues over whatever.

[Strat-itis]

I will take you guys up on your recommendations and go listen to them.

[Strat-itis]

Jim Hall on the whole Jazz Guitar album.

This one is great. Sort of treats that Db as a vamp and goes full blues on it.

A lot of great blues licks but m28-33 is smoking

jim hall - stompin.pdf - Google Drive

I don't listen to Jimbo that much but now that I am I kind of hear his influence in your playing. I'd wonder why you purposefully play a lot of staccato and finessed articulations and I hear that he does that.

[pauln]

Hard to tell what you're looking for, but I'll try to describe some of how I do it and give an example to play around with.

Scales vs Sounds
My purpose is to produce the various sounds, so it is these sounds and their application to the sounds of harmonic contexts I "think about" (opportunities for which I listen). What I actually play may be objectively observed to comprise parts of scales, but subjectively I'm just listening and choosing sounds.
This means my perspective includes changing during the progression.

Progression Modification
These are modifications of chords that do not make a functional difference with respect to the sound of the tune, but the mods change the harmony in a way conducive to melodic ideas. Some of these are "soft" like subbing a 6/9 for a maj7; some are "firmer" like subbing a sixth chord with the 7th on the bottom for a 9th chord. There are also some "hard" ones that only work for some tunes but not others (or don't work when attempted in another style like Bossa Nova).
This means my perspective includes modifications of harmonic contexts.

Progression Harmonic Resolution
This is not the usual meaning of resolution like moving from the five to the one; this is like the resolution of an image, the degree of visible detail. Musically with regard to the progression this means the density of what jazz calls passing chords and what blues calls "the changes" (typically side slip, tri-tone, augmented, and diminished chords preceding the main chords).
This means my perspective includes increasing harmonic density / resolution.

I will attempt to show this with an example.

Blues tune that has a
| bVI7 V7 | i |
kind of turnaround, e.g.
| Eb7 D7 | Gm |

The sound of G minor pent is perfectly good throughout the whole turnaround, it works for all three chord sounds. So do a few other simple things on the Gm.
You may have noticed that t is perhaps a kind of implicit jazz solo etiquette after expressing the song with various dazzling reharmonization, alterations, playing outside, etc., to kind of hand the tune over to the next soloist in a nice fresh condition with all the dents and scratches from your soloing all buffed out. Imagining that, my focus will be on the first two chords of the turnaround, leaving the Gm to be the landing zone for a simpler clean finish.

Progression Modification
This is to provide some things with which to use for solo construction; the critical thing is to know how the song goes (the sound of it) so when you evaluate modifications you can exclude the ones that push the tune too far away from sounding like itself.

- change the chords to | Eb(9) D9 | Gm7 |
- change the chords to | Eb(13) D(#9) | Gm7 |
Eb(13) as x65668
- change the chords to | Eb(13)/Db Daug/C | Gm7 |
Eb(13)/Db as x4554x
Daug/C as x3433x

A great number of tunes that use this turnaround will accept these mods very nicely, but even a mod that is too much might still be OK because these mods are perspectives generated to produce soloing ideas. You'll find that even some chord mods that would sound way off if actually played as chords in the tune may still generate great solo ideas, so don't throw out anything without testing.

Progression Harmonic Resolution

First chord, the first four notes I take from the top of the Eb(13), the next four notes I take from the Eb(13)/Db
This is to add some additional motion and resolution / detail, even across a "single chord"

Eb(13) descending C A F Db
Eb(13)/Db descending Eb C G Db

So for the first chord, descending C A F Db, up a step, then descending Eb C G Db
Notice the "same chord" is taking one two expressions, both have similar shape of movement.

Second chord also takes eight notes, most from the Daug/C (but I know that Ab Lydian Dominant sound contains both the Daug sound and that C under it, so my perspective for this sound is from Lydian Dominant)

Ab Lydian Dominant ascending C Gb Bb D F, back down to D, then up ascending Eb Bb
That last three notes are a set-up for going into the Gm; they might be leading into an enclosure targeting the G, or the A of G Dorian, or the Bb of Gm pent...etc.

That was all kind of a ramble. but hope there's something that helps.