The only comprehensive book on the blues scales ever published!
“An excellent book, useful to beginners as well as advanced players.”
— Michael Brecker
This ground-breaking and best-selling book will teach you how to use the Major and Minor Blues Scales to improvise meaningful solos, without having to first master all the scales and chords of a tune. Unlike earlier texts on jazz theory, which only included the minor blues scale, Dan Greenblatt’s book proves that both major and minor versions are necessary to create real jazz solo lines.
The accompanying CD download, by Dan and his quartet of swinging NY jazz musicians, shows how each exercise should sound. It also contains play-along tracks for you to practice over.
The Blues Scales is relevant for all skill-levels and instruments. It is essential for beginners, perfect for intermediate students, and even useful for professional players to hone their skills on this crucial and often neglected part of the jazz language.
It includes great solo transcriptions from Miles, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Oscar Peterson, Dave Sanborn, Michael Brecker and many more, illustrating how the Blues Scales are actually used in various styles of jazz.
Includes:
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Step-by-step exercises to get beginning students able to quickly solo using the two basic Blues Scales.
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An extensive dictionary of classic Major and Minor Blues Scale phrases.
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Help with transposing the ideas learned into other keys.
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Numerous ways to expand the Blues Scales to make them even more useful.
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Appendices for advanced players showing how the masters of jazz use the blues scales in their own playing.
Spiral-bound, 88 pages, Table of Contents, supplemental audio download included.
Sample Page: Basic Blues Theory
Sample Track: Track #1
The Blues Scales - Guitar Edition is now available!
Containing the same information as the original book, the Guitar version features guitar wizard Dave Mac Nab on the accompanying CD download instead of the saxophone tracks. Don't miss the high-level, soulful guitar playing on the Guitar version!
Sample Track: Track 11
Endorsements:
“ An excellent addition to the growing number of books and CDs dedicated to mastering the art of jazz improvisation. Useful to beginners as well as advanced players, The Blues Scales admirably addresses the vocabulary of the blues — the 'root of jazz.'”
— Michael Brecker
“ To actually play the blues, you have to know what's in the blues. Dan has done a marvelous job of dissecting the blues and then bringing all the pieces back together so you can make beautiful music. This book will help those who want to have fun playing the blues.”
— Jamey Aebersold
“ Dan has done a great job with this book! A good method for teaching blues and jazz improvising to beginning students has been much needed. It has been a long time coming, but finally that need has been filled.”
— Junior Mance
Dan Greenblatt is a seasoned saxophonist and educator with nearly four decades of experience in Seattle and New York. He's collaborated with prominent jazz artists like George Cables, Jimmy Heath, and Peter Bernstein, and with Seattle jazz legends such as Chuck Metcalf and Jay Thomas. Greenblatt has taught at reputable institutions including Cornish College of the Arts, The New School for Jazz, and La Guardia High School for Performing Arts. As an author, Greenblatt has penned two books on jazz improvisation published by Sher Music and has delved into the interplay between music and language in academic studies.
