Blues scale notation

[Erik Gran]

I'm a litte puzzled by a very small detail about notation for the "blue notes" in a blues scale, is there a convention for writing them as flatted or sharpened, or could you use both?

The specific case that set this speculation off was a G blues scale spelled out like this, G Bb B C C# D F G. What looked wrong to my eyes, was the tritone, which here is noted as C#, or the augmented fourth. I used to believe that in this setting we're dealing with the flatted fifth, i.e. Db.

For practical purposes, you of course play the same note, and this probably is just splitting hairs, but it seems logical to me to write Db, not C#. Is there some other convention to this that I not know of? Or should I try to spend my time and mind occupied with more important issues? :confused:

[John McGann]

There are several schools of thought- one is the "non-harmonic thinking" that says if the line is ascending it should be #, and descending b.

"Harmonic thinking" would say "the accidental should agree with the chord symbol", so Db would be seen as the b5 and not the #4 (or #11 as we sometimes call it).

"Enharmonic thinking" would assert that if you are in a sharp key, all accidentals should be sharp, and in a flat key all should be flat.

IMHO in that case of the blues scale it doesn't matter that much. There are other situations where I'd lean much more toward "harmonic thinking" and if I am thinking b9 the note would probably get a flat or natural, except in the keys where you'd need a double flat (or in other cases, a double sharp)- I'd use the enharmonic equivalent (i.e. in Db a b9 would technically be spelled Ebb but who wants to read that? D is just easier to read and think of!)...because it's much easier on the (non-classical-virtuoso) sight reader!

In real life you'll see all 3 notational styles.

[Erik Gran]

John, thanks for your reply, I guess the answer is "anything" goes, but from your three schools, I still can't get the combination of b3 #4 and b7 in the same scale to match logically. I guess the blues is a challenge for notation anyway, since you "break the rules" quite a bit while playing the blues, even with the pitches while bending, playing notes in between the half steps of the chromatic scale. I agree in that you should use a notiation that is practical and convenient for writing down what you play, if you need to pass on the music that way.

[mandocrucian]

To add a little what John said.


There are several schools of thought- one is the "non-harmonic thinking" that says if the line is ascending it should be #, and descending b.

That's probably the best when the chord symbols are pretty much unaltered triads and dominant 7ths (or 9ths). From the notational aspect, the goal is to keep the accidental #'s and b's and naturals to a minimum.

G bB C #C D is easier read than G bB C bD naturalD as you don't need to use the natural to return the D to "D".

Going down: F(natural) D bD C bB G vs F(natural) D #C naturalC bB G


||G F D #C D *C D || vs ||G F D bD naturalD bD naturalD ||
*(already sharped within measure)

so, in the above example the choice is between one accidental symbol vs. four. Uncluttered is easier to read.

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But use the b5 in examples such as........| G bB C bD C *B G |


If the chord symbol was something like G7b5, chances are its much more likely that there isn't a "natural D" in the line, or if there is, it's a passing tone down into the Db. I'd use the b5 if the note was prominant (i.e. longer note), but if it was one passing note in a line of fast notes, I'd tend to opt for "minimal accidentals". But as John says, the harmonic thinking is going to be much more applicable in the case of extended tones such as the #9 (G B D F #A) or b9 (G B D F bA) etc.

NH

[John McGann]

I still can't get the combination of b3 #4 and b7 in the same scale to match logically.

I'd call it G Bb C# F- there's logic in that they spell the same way you say their function. Don't let it mess with your sleep, though; in the long run someone will argue with whatever you might settle upon.

That's the awesome thing about theory- always something to talk about! :mandosmiley:

I break my own preferences when it's convenient, like the #9 of G should be A# but I call it Bb, so yes, a B in the first octave and Bb in the 2nd octave. That's just my own preference; I know that the #9 presupposes a natural 3 on the bottom, and Bb is just easier and more common than A# (i.e. there's no key of A#!)

All of this is great as long as you HEAR the connections. Without ears, all the notation, tab, tonegards, armrests etc. are just toys, rather than tools...