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The below backing track is a fairly standard blues backing in C. However when I come to improvise with the old trusty pentatonic scale, C minor works but C major doesn’t.
Why is this the case? I was of the understanding that the scale used could simply match the key of the piece. Is this not correct?
Any advice would be appreciated as I’m confused!
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Well, sounds like a major blues, so major could/should work. Maybe you’re feeling extra blue today? 😆 but a few points come to mind:
-blues is a funny genre. Major in the chords but often we add b3, b7 and b5 on top of that for extra tension. Sometimes we waffle between the two, but sometimes minor just sounds and feels right.
-sometimes the major pentatonic box containing 5, 6, 1 and 2 (scale degrees) is used. Then we bend the 6 and 2 up to a b7 and b3. While this is technically a “major” shape, we are bending it into Dorian (minor) territory.
-over the 4 chord (F7) there is an Eb in that chord, so for that one in particular an E will sound wrong where an Eb (minor note) will sound right.
Hope that helps!
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Hi Ben, I’ll take a stab at this.
The problem is that the backing track is not one key. You are actually playing over 3 “keys”. The track consists of C7, F7 or F9, G7 or G9. Dominant chords are the fifth chord in any key family. You can only have one dominant chord in a key. That means these chords are derived from the keys of F major, Bb major and C major.
You can play C minor pentatonic over the whole “key of C”, in the way you are thinking of it, as a sort of best fit over the three keys but even here you have to modify your note choices and maybe even grab a major 3rd note over the key changes that may not be in the C minor pentatonic.
The simple option here is all C minor pentatonic, or C major pentatonic over the C7 and C minor pentatonic over the F7 and G7. Another option is to play a hybrid C major minor (mixolydian with the added minor 3rd) over the C7. You could try chord tones or notes from the dominant arpeggio of each chord as they pass.
The “scale” or mode that truly fits each chord is it’s own mixolydian. You could play C, F and G mixolydian over each change.
There are a whole bunch more options for how to get through this simple progression, especially those that lean in a jazzy direction.
Blues is way more complex than many think.
Hope this helps.John
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