blues realizations / minor tonality

First chorus. The first chorus is comprised of what is commonly known among players as a 12 bar / 1, 4, 5 blues. It is used all around the world by folks of all ages and abilities to have fun making music. The 12 bar blues form has been around a long time ago and is the musical form of choice for testifying blues and jazz players globally. Oftentimes, it is a good beginning point when we jam with new players. As there are so many cool tunes written in this format, everyone in the jam might have some skill with it. If not, maybe try to teach it to them if the setting is right.

The 12 bar blues is simply three / four bar musical phrases, which when combined together create the 12 bars of one complete chorus of a 12 bar 1, 4, 5 blues. The 1, 4, 5 part of it refers to the root numbers of the chords used and are derived by adding numbers to the letter names of the pitches which comprise the blues scale. Curious to learn this musical form? If new to the blues, learn as much of the following melody as possible, it's basically a C blues scale up in quarter notes and down in eighth notes. Getting this line under your fingers will give you a working feel for the blues grouping of pitches in the minor tonality. 

Hear how the one melodic idea, created in a basic call and response, is simply repeated three times to create the first chorus? At the core of the Blues form, one idea repeated three times. Like a chant ...? Yes grasshopper, like a chant ...

Chord symbols for the 1st chorus. Three / four bar phrases.

Bars 1 through 4. The first phrase starts on the One chord or tonic. First theme created from the pitches of the blues scale sets the tone of the solo.

Bars 5 through 8. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 5. Back to tonic in measure 7. Same melodic idea.

Bars 9 through 12. The third phrase starts on the Five chord for bar 9, moves to Four in bar 10, then back to tonic in bar 11. The Five chord in bar 12 creates the Five to One cadential motion for the return to the tonic. Again, same melodic idea.

complete sound file for the first chorus, try jamming along, 10 choruses of 3 chord blues in C minor.

Got the line or some part of it under your fingers? If not, keep trying? If it's out of reach just play the roots of the chords for now. Maybe just the tonic if that's the available pitch. If the line is cool for you, as time permits go to the loop below and improvise your own lines. Use the pitches from the melody to create your melodic ideas. Remember, the melody of the tune we are improvising on is oftentimes a continual source for ideas while soloing.

practice loop for jamming, 10 choruses of 1st chorus minor blues changes in Cminor, no melody.
practice loop for jamming, 10 choruses of uptempo 1st chorus minor blues changes in C.

Compare with 1st chorus of major blues?

Second chorus. Subbing the Four chord for tonic in the second bar of the 12 bar form. Sometimes called a "fast Four", our first substitution in this solo is replacing the tonic chord with Four in the second measure of the first four bar phrase. Very common and cool, done in all sorts of blue climates. We also extend the tonic color to include the ninth chord degree throughout the chorus, while using the altered dominant chord G 7# 9 in bar 24 to set up the next chorus. The tonic minor nine color is distinct and somewhat more modern sounding than the more traditional minor triad / dominant 7th color. The ninth providing a different sense of stability than the seventh when applied to tonic harmony. One must develop the ability to aurally recognize and sense the emotional nuance of the different tonic qualities available, be patient for it takes time to internalize the colors. Oftentimes, our "ear" evolves with our artistic needs.

Back to the music of the second chorus, the melody inverts itself rhythmically from the first chorus while continuing to exclusively use the blues grouping of pitches, i.e., the blues scale. Also continued is the vamp like nature of the line, whereby one four bar melodic idea is repeated three times to create the 12 bar melodic blues format. Repeat 1 idea 3 times? Is there an echo in here? Something so simple yet so totally cool and potentially essential to the creative artist. Why is that?

Chord symbols for the second chorus.

Bars 13 through 16. Tonic moves to Four in the second bar, then returns to complete the phrase. New rhythm ideas in the melody include an off beat accent in the first bar and the first appearance in the solo of the triplet figure on beat four of bar 13, which squeezes three 1 / 8 notes onto one beat in 4 / 4 time. This melodic idea could easily become it's own tune called ... Maybe write one yourself? Repeat one idea 3 times and give it a name and vwala, your blues tune is born! Here's the music.

Bars 17 through 20. Melodically identical to the first phrase, the second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 17. Back to tonic in bar 19 to complete the four bar phrase.

Bars 21 through 24. Melodically similar to the first and second phrases, the third phrase starts on the Five chord for bar 21, moves to Four in bar 22, then back to tonic in bar 23, using the minor 7th color. The Five chord in bar 24 creates the Five to One cadential motion for the return to the tonic. Same basic melodic idea.

Use the pitches from the blues grouping to create your melodic ideas. Key in on the motion to Four as described above. Remember, the melody of the tune we are improvising on will pretty much always work when we run out of ideas while soloing. Also, try to sing a melody then play it on your chosen instrument. Just for fun, try to include an off beat accent and a triplet rhythm in your lines.

practice loop for jamming, 10 choruses of 2nd chorus minor blues changes in C minor.
practice loop for jamming, 10 choruses of uptempo 2nd chorus changes in C minor blues

Third chorus. Adding the Two chord. Subbing in the Two minor seventh flat five in the third phrase. First appearance of the dominant seventh flat nine in this solo. More of a jazz color, the dominant flat nine is potentially a very powerful, dominant chord type. Our melody extracts the melodic idea from the first phrase of the last chorus to create the melodic line for the 3rd chorus.

Chord symbols for the third chorus.

Bars 25 through 28. Tonic moves to Four in the second bar, then returns to complete the phrase. Our melodic idea is taken from the first phrase of the last chorus, helping to glue the second and third choruses together.

Bars 29 through 32. Motion to Four in bar 29, then back to the tonic in bar 31. The melodic idea is simply transposed to the subdominant Four chord in bars 29 and 30.

Bars 33 through 36. The third / four bar phrase of this 12 bar blues inserts the Two minor seventh flat five color setting up the motion to the dominant flat nine. Note the common tone Ab ( b5 / b9 ) between the two chords. The melody simply arpeggiates both chords before returning to our first motif, setting up and completing the turnaround to the next chorus. So, we've created a major triad on Five in the minor tonality? What's up with that?

Borrowing the "B" natural, the leading tone, and placing it into the Five chord simply helps to firm up the cadential motion. Of course ... theory wise we are stretching the rules a bit but common practice often dictates yes?

Focus on the Two minor seven flat five to Five seven flat nine cadence. This is potentially an important and common combination of chordal colors in both the major and minor environments.

practice loop for jamming, 10 choruses of 3rd chorus minor blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, 10 choruses of uptempo 3rd chorus minor blues changes in C.

Fourth chorus. Subbing in Two / Five. Adding whole tone color. New harmonies in this fourth chorus include creating a Two / Five in bar 38 setting up the return of the tonic in bar 39. Using the constant structure / half step lead in for the motion to Four in bar 40. Subbing out for the tonic in bar 44 with a dominant augmented chord built on the Six, setting up the Two chord in bar 45. Using the augmented fifth color in the turnaround, flat Six then flat seven before the dominant seventh flat nine color built on Five setting up the next chorus. New melodic idea initially based on intervalic leap of a perfect fifth.

Chord symbols for the fourth chorus.

Bars 37 through 40. Tonic moves to Four then flat Seven in the second bar, then returns to One. Is this F / Bb root motion also Two / Five of the relative major of our tonic key? Yep, pretty much, a fairly common sub in the minor tonality. New melodic idea based on interval leap of the perfect fifth in bar 37, which is inverted in bar 39 to a perfect fourth. Motion to Four in bar 41 via the half step lead in of bar 40. The half step motion is very common in jazz and blues music, although giving the color a full measure of time might not.

Bars 41 through 44. The second four bar phrase of this 12 bar minor blues opens on Four in bar 41 which becomes part of a Two / Five cell in bar 42, setting up the return to the tonic in bar 43. What is the parent scale for this Two / Five grouping? Right Eb major or it's relative minor, our tonic key here of C minor. Motion to the dominant Six chord in bar 44, the root of which is borrowed from the C melodic minor scale. Melodically, similar motif throughout the phrase. 

Motion from One to Six? Borrowed from the major tonality perhaps?

Bars 45 through 48. Beginning the turnaround, Two half diminished to Five seven flat nine in bar 46. Bar 47 is a unique combination of colors. The tritone interval in the melody is supported by a dominant seventh chord with a # 4 / b 5 augmented coloring. This chord is move up a whole step in bar 48 supporting a similar melody. The diatonic Five chord returns on beat four of bar 48 setting up the return to the tonic for the beginning of the next chorus in bar 49.

Try creating an exercise whereby you shed minor scales and arpeggios by using the half step motion downward as done in bars 40 and 41 above. I like to call this type of exercise running the minor scale or arpeggio through a chromatic filter. Perhaps to key in on the melodic and harmonic motion of the Two / Five / One in the first phrase. Remember, the melody of the tune we are improvising on will pretty much always work when we run out of ideas while soloing. Also, try to sing a melody then play it on your chosen instrument. Just for fun, try to create an idea using the major third pitch while soloing over the minor chord. Ouch!

Practice loop for jamming.  Ten choruses of 4th chorus minor blues changes in C.
Practice loop for jamming.  Ten choruses of uptempo 4th chorus minor blues changes in C.

Fifth chorus. The sus 4 chord / quartile harmony. New chord color combines the suspended fourth color ( sus4 ) and the building of the chord voicings in diatonic fourths, commonly referred to as quartile harmony. The pitches used in the fifth chorus are for the most part taken from the C Dorian mode. Even though the following chart of chord symbols looks pretty complex, and it is, the entire chorus is created by a few voicings built in fourths that are moved about in parallel motion as constant structures. The musical effect is like none other and is an integral component on the artistic palette of many modern jazz and blues players. This combination of the sus 4 / quartile voicing is very cool, a bit complex, distinctive and different, so perhaps a bit harder to control and make musical sense with. Like so many worthwhile things, it just takes time and persistence to achieve our goal. The overall feel and sound of the fifth chorus is definitely a bit more on the modern side of the historical blues picture. The melodic idea of this chorus is based on a simple rhythmic motive extracted from the last chorus, expanded here to include wider intervals and simply permutated to follow the chord structure of the fifth chorus.

Here is the roadmap of chord symbols for the fifth chorus.

Bars 49 through 52. Tonic constant structure is simply moved up and then down the first phrase following the root pitches of the C Dorian scale. Beat four of bar 52 provides the dominant seventh color setting up the motion to Four in the second phrase, bar 53. This voicing is one of two in the 12 bar chorus which is not part of the C Dorian program. New melodic idea is simply by leap then step, using mainly perfect fourths and fifths, accentuating key pitches of the sus 4 of the harmony. Simple, but cool and effective in moving us away from the more traditional minor blues environment. Compare this fifth chorus with the first chorus of this solo to hear the contrast between the traditional and more modern tonal environments, both are which are based in the 12 bar minor blues form. Using this new and potentially outside sus 4 color, we begin to head toward the climax of this solo.

Bars 53 through 56. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 53 and follows a similar harmonic idea and motion of the first phrase. We move briefly away from the pitches of C Dorian to create the minor Four chord on beat one of bar 53, and again on beat two of bar 54, to create the dominant seventh color augmented fifth setting up the return to the tonic C Dorian color in bar 55. The harmony of bars 55 and 56 are identical to the opening measures of this fifth chorus. The melody of the second phrase initially mirrors that of the first. The descending fourths of the melody line in bar 56 sets up the third / four bar phrase of this 12 bar blues form.

Bars 57 through 60. Here we initially repeat the harmony of the second phrase then return to the chords of the opening measure to close out this chorus. Our melody of the third phrase initially inverts our original motive providing a bit of balance to the opening rhythmic idea, then pushing one idea through a stepwise filter based in the original C Dorian color in bars 59 and 60 to close out the chorus. 

Perhaps focus in on creating ideas using the intervals of the perfect fourth and fifth as a basis for your lines. Look to the musical intervals and interval studies sections for more ideas. Remember, the melody of the tune we are improvising on will pretty much always work when we run out of ideas while soloing. Also, try to sing a melody then play it on your chosen instrument. Just for fun, perhaps try to create a chromatic idea over a stationary harmony, interesting yes?

Click to compare the tonal color of the first and fifth chorus.

1st

5th

Sixth chorus. Chromatic harmony / Five of Five / the flat Two chord. In the sixth chorus we continue to build toward the climax of this solo by retaining the constant structure approach to the chord voicings while changing harmonic colors from the modal / sus 4 sounds to simply moving the minor 9th chordal color around chromatically. So a bit more bluesy in the traditional sense while chromatically disguising our direction and intent. Our melody simply continues with the eighth note lick from the end of the fifth chorus. The third phrase contains two new harmonic ideas, expanding our possible choices for creating the turnaround.

Chord symbols for the sixth chorus, bars 61 through 72.

Bars 61 through 64. The harmony of the first phrase simply takes one voicing and chromatically ascends toward the Four chord of bar 65. Some folks call this parallel harmonic motion, which is a colossal Bozo no-no if your writing eighteenth century counterpoint or music styled in what is known as the Baroque era. If your not, then moving one voicing i.e., a constant structure, around chromatically, i.e., in parallel motion, just might be the ticket to coolness. Use your chromatic helmet to insure a safe journey. The melody here continues directly from the turnaround of the last chorus and simply runs the melodic idea through a version of the chromatic filter.

Bars 65 through 68. Starting on Four, the harmony descends chromatically back towards and reaches the tonic in bar 67. New melodic motif in bars 65 and 66 provides a bit of contrast for the theme of the first phrase, which returns again in bar 67 to close out this second phrase.

Bars 69 through 72. The third phrase opens on Five of Five in bar 69, adding a new twist in our minor blues solo. Five of Five simply builds a dominant chord thinking from the dominant of the tonic key of the music. So, C minor is the tonic key, it's dominant or Five chord is built on the fifth degree G, the dominant of which is built on D. The harmony in bar 70 continues our chromatic journey down towards the tonic and is in essence a tritone sub. Tonic returns in bar 71 which moves up a half step ( chromatically ) to flat Two major nine, setting up the return to the top for the next chorus. I love this flat Two color in both the minor and major tonal environments. The melody of the third phrase is mostly scaler and simply outlines the harmony, closing with a quote from a 70's Marvin Gaye tune.

Jazz saxophone colossus Wayne Shorter uses the above turnaround idea in a 6/8 minor blues entitled Footprints. An interesting 24 bar minor blues form, the melody of Footprints really captures and creates the minor blues color in a dreamy sort of way. Oliver Nelson's wonderful minor blues composition Stolen Moments captures the chromatic quality described above in a beautifully crafted manner. Check the tunes out if your curious and keep looking for new tunes to play. They are jazz standards. Oftentimes, finding a tune you dig written by one composer leads to other cool tunes by the same composer. Imagine that. Is reading through new tunes an improtant source for new ideas?

Perhaps try and shed the concept of creating one melodic idea and running it through the chromatic filter. Try this exercise both in an ascending and descending direction while creating melodic motifs from various melodic colors, i.e., major, minor, dominant, whole tone, diminished, modal etc. Quoting melodies from other tunes as in the above third phrase will usually raise a few astute eyebrows. The idea that so many cool melodic ideas come directly from the tunes we love can not ever be impressed enough. 

For many players, learning new melodies is where it is at. For not only do we expand our melodic capabilities, but also expand our potential group of other players to work with. Advanced improvising players talk about coming up with one nice idea per chorus and developing that one idea through the form of the tune. Then evolving this idea into a new one and repeating the process in the next chorus, gradually building their solo. Can this idea be a quote from another tune? Absolutely! Simple in theory but a challenge for players at all levels, the idea of developing one idea for each chorus then evolving this idea into successive choruses is a sure sign of strength within the improvising musician's mind. Just for fun, maybe try to create one idea and move it chromatically over the form of the 12 bar blues.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 6th chorus minor blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 6th chorus minor blues changes in C.

Click here for chorus # 7 and onward.

"It is not so hard for me to jam." M.C. Hammer