Try This Alternative to Practicing Blues in All Keys
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- Опубликовано: 25 фев 2014
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It's a common question: "Do I need to practice the blues in all keys?" Nothing wrong with doing that...but, are you seeing great results from it? Here's a tactic worth considering...
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Bob Reynolds is a 3x Grammy Award-winning tenor saxophonist known for his work with Snarky Puppy, John Mayer, and 11 solo albums. 
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I’m not a sax player I’m guitar player but another thing I would say with the blues is use a pad. So like if your working on major or minor blues have a pad going in the background then turn your metronome to whatever bpm you want but the pad will allow you to really explore your major and minor scales. Then mix your major blues with your major scale etc. To fully understand the concept of the blues. From what it seems for sax the scales aren’t the same fingering but it will allow you to play to the extent of that key.
anytime my motivation drops off and i come back to one of your videos i feel that initial spark immediately come back to get practicing again, thanks so much for posting all this man, really manageable tips and it really does go a long way to helping keep the fire alive!
This ABSOLUTELY works. My first semester of college, I would get a lick or two into all keys for my lesson each week. My struggle was that I never used them when doing improv, either because I didn't think of it or couldn't remember it in the right key. Second semester, actually sat down for a bit and thought "why does this sound good and where else can I use it?" and would play a tune for a few choruses and put that lick in the same spot every time. Once I really had the sound of the lick in my head and where it should be, it came to me a million times easier in the future.
man that chorus at 5:25 was a blast to transcribe on guitar. Slightly unconventional finger movements, but it's such a solid outline for the harmony.
Charlie Parker quote. Learn to play the blues in all 12 keys an your ready. I heard this from various mentors in my career, veteran musicians that had met him during their careers.
Old video but very helpful and thought provoking for my present level of playing, good lesson.
Thank you, Bob! This is something that I work with my students as well; really concentrating on certain parts of a progression, and purposely working on a certain lick (either a pattern or lick from a transcription) to integrate into one's playing "organically". Kudos!
nice Bob...a beautiful thing about music is the multitude of approaches to a concept/sound. Rather than saying it's essentially the mel min 1/2 step above the tonic dom at the 4th bar to create an alt dom sound, you have introduced the idea of tritone subbing the entire 2-5 at bar 4 (something Wes did a lot, intuitively). Like Von Barlow used to say "everthing is everything". Right on man. I'm a big fan.
Thanks, Gary! Hope you're doing well
Man I got to say this... what a schooling time I´ve had with this video....
thanks a los for sharing...
hope to follow you closer in your next one...
regards fron Honduras...
Great balance between playing and teaching! Nice lesson on the tri-tone sub in actual practice. Gotta get you down to Georgia sometime to work with my students.
Thanks Bob, you have a great sound and amazing practice advice.
Thank you Bob. Its seems very informative, though difficult to understand the concept in the beginning as I am a beginner but I believe eventually i would be able to understand what you meant by this educational video.
Good stuff Bob. Very inspirational. And very colorful.
Thanks Bob! Your videos help me a lot.
A year later and I'm back for a second look. This is really a great lesson.
Great tip Bob. Thanks!
A lesson on how to use a tritone substitution on a 12 bar blues. Nicely done. Ie up a tritone on the 4rth bar.
This was a great lesson, thank you man!
Great tutorial, thank you so much!
Great lesson. Thanks.
Thanks for this lesson!!!
great lesson! you're a fantastic teacher... and great player
Hi Bob! Great video as always!
I often use altered scales on the V of a II-V-I because it creates a cool sound.
And I guess the same thing works on the 4th bar of the blues (for a blues in C that would be playing C7alt on the 4th bar which is very similar to what you’re playing in the video i.e. C#-)
super helpful thanks!!
This is really a "nugget" as you call it Bob! Amazing stuff!
Thank you so much this helps a lot
Great lesson
One way I use with my pupils to address learning the blues in all keys is to have them learn how to play using only the 3 basic dominant 7th chords of I, IV & V utilizing possible devices such as bebop scale licks and/or approach notes etc. to each given chord. Once they become proficient in one key they feel comfortable in, then move to the the next key around the cycle of fifths. This way they will only be adding one new dominant seventh chord each time they progress through the cycle, but in a different order. i.e. Start with G7, C7 & D7, the next around the cycle would be C7, F7 & G7, so the new chord would be F7. Where in the cycle they start is irrelevant, as long as they feel comfortable in the starting key. Thought's, Bob?
Doug what makes a chord a 7th C7 F7 G7 ect. I get lost in the theory part Thanks
Hi James. The 7th chord is constructed from the fifth degree of the major or minor diatonic scales and contains the root, a major third above that , a perfect fifth and a minor seventh. The chord is identical in both major and minor diatonic tonalities up to its seventh, above that the extensions differ, i.e. in the minor key the ninth and thirteenth are lowered in line with the key signature. For the purposes of my original post you would use the 7th chord from the major key, i.e. C7 is five of F major, F7 is V of Bb and G7 is V of C. I hope this helps, if not, just ask and I will explain it in another way.
perfect analysis of a difficult situation .
Excelent!!
Thank you so muchhh!
I am Saxophonist performing and touring with a band in Michigan. I am 21 and have had enough of an understanding of basic music theory to have musical conversations and work around a band without causing trouble...but Ive been wanting to step up my game and these videos have been badass. So much help. Rock on 🤘🎷🎶
Awesome, William! Go get 'em.
hi bob!! thanks for this great idea to practicing blues, ¿would it be possible if you do an example on a minor blues?
greetings
Exactly!!!
Nice thanks!
Can this method be applied to other chord progressions. For example, could I isolate one measure in Softly As In a Morning Sunrise and focus on that as I play through the changes?
Thanks for this lesson. Very efficient way to practice.
Sensacional
Hey Bob, have just stumbled across your videos and I've gotta say you really are a fantastic teacher. You're saying a lot of things I've been feeling & thinking but hearing them in action from an advanced player is very inspiring indeed. Although I don't use them anywhere near as much as I used to... I've been considering dropping play alongs altogether from my practice. Why? As I've been feeling that playing unaccompanied horn (I'm a trumpeter btw) but in time (and rubato if necessary when starting on a tune, a concept, piece of language etc) surely must strengthen the musical imagination and general mental mapping of chord progressions! This seems to be one of the places you're coming at it from. I wish I had a teacher in my area teaching from the same point of view... I've yet to find one! Thanks for the great vids anyway. All best to you man!
Thanks! Yeah, I'm a slow learner so I have to break everything into small, manageable chunks...and practice things slowly, accurately, and with lots of repetition. If I can find the architecture of something, rather than just the "thing," it helps me tremendously. While it's not the same as in in-person teacher, I teach actively through my Virtual Studio here: bobreynoldsmusic.com/studio
Thanks for replying Bob! Yes... me too!! Takes me ages to get certain things ingrained... especially on trumpet as there is less visual information, unlike say... guitar (I'm a guitarist too). Concentration is so important to the process I feel and playing just by myself to a metronome forces me to be aware of how focused/unfocused I am! Also as someone withe 3 kids under 5... I find seeing you work everything around your whole family situation very inspiring too. It looks exhausting! ha ha. Thanks for the link I'll check it out. All best, David.
P.s. I agree about finding the "architecture" or say concept... a contextual musical idea. I'm not heavy on working out of books aside from some "trumpety" exercises. I like to go to the source and learn from my favourite jazz albums. Jeez it's slow going for me though! However, one of the best books I've read that works at giving you concepts rather than a load of patterns to practice verbatim is Hal Galper's "Forward Motion". It's even made me think in cut time and change my 2 clicks per bar from beats 2 & 4 to 1 & 3. Great book I reckon.
I try and find a Charlie Parker or Sonny Stitt blues in a key I'm not familiar with and play along until it's under my fingers.Helps with shape and landing points in that key.
This makes a lot of sense! Thanks
That lick is dangerous.
What a 'nugget'....thanks Bob.
Hello Bob, please help! I was watching this video and just struck me that when you say C#m7 it spells - C# E G# B and possible D# as an extension, you wrote Bb, that causes it to be C#m6.So in this case the this ii will be a minor 6th chord instead of the traditional m7? thanks in advance.!
The 4th in Bb is Eb
I love your tone. What mouthpiece and reed setup do you use? You have the tenor sound I wanted so badly when I was playing tenor (can't play anymore due to arthritis). I'm now playing the chromatic harmonica. I tried many different mouthpiece and reed combinations, as do most horn players, came close but never quite got there.
In the end it may be the shape of the jaw, oral cavity - one of the beauties of winds is that no two are ever identical.
You have a beautiful tone, I would say a cross between Stan Getz, Paul Gonsalves. Smooth and hot. Honey and bourbon.
+Hardtop Harry Thanks, Harry. This may be the coolest thing I've ever hear said about me: "a cross between Stan Getz, Paul Gonsalves. Smooth and hot. Honey and bourbon." :) setup/gear is here: bobreynoldsmusic.com/setup
One practical reason to practice a blues in different keys is when you're playing with different instruments or vocalists they'll have different favorite keys. Guitar players for example seem to always like sharp keys like A concert. For tenor players that's B, with five sharps. F# for alto and bari players. After you've played in those sharp keys for awhile it'll seem completely normal. (Thanks for the video Bob.)
Thanks, Bob. Good lesson. Question. In practicing my scales, I'm finding that the harder ones I'm learning (+4 flats or sharps) come to me much easier if I don't read them as I practice. Is it okay to learn my scales by ear and feel them on the flute rather than reading them? When I see all those sharps I stumble mentally, but my fingers play the scale just fine when I don't look at the written notation. Thanks!
TOTALLY! Reading them (seeing all those b's and #'s) is what (to me, anyway) makes/made them scary. Don't read them...feel them.
Bob Reynolds ..Same issue but now I believe what you said
I have that same prob. I played an ab scale and it was as easy as c
YES! The sheet music is just an impediment. It's information most of which you already know.
The reason to practice in all keys is eventually to get beyond keys altogether! A singer does not need to know what key a tune is in. The singer just sings. The same liberation is possible with the horn too. Ideally, one just sings through the horn, with absolutely no regard to what key the tune is in, without thinking notes or intervals - just singing.
In the meantime, you may have occasion to play with a guitar blues band. They mostly play in keys like B, E, and A concert.
Agree about singing thru the horn, and I envy pianists, guitarists, and bassists who can sing while they play and thereby connect their singing conceptions with the instrument. And it always helps if I sing some little parts to myself before starting a solo or riffing around a vocalist - that is, when the band isn't to loud to prevent hearing myself.
BTW, I played tenor in a blues band for a while some decades ago, and I found that F# (concert E) is a nice key that projects better on the horn than C (concert Bb). Far fewer pads are closed.
Hi bob trying to learn how to improvise have u any videos on this or can u recommend a DVD or a good book with audio Thanks Lou
Join his online lessons, he have Tonnes of info there.
Can someone explain @7:00. In key of A, concert G.
hi Bob ,,
looking at the notes .. you put in A7 on the 8th bar... Is this so it is a 6 , 2, 5, 1 turnaround in C .? Sorry if this is incorrect but I havent really done much on blues apart from really basic blues measures.. thanks
Yes. A7 = 5 of 2 (V7 of ii). So, A7 is to Dm7 as G7 is to C.
Great teaching. Can I ask your MP set up.
Harlem Nocturne riff. You can hear it at 9:50 on the vid....
YZir🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Hey Bob what is a good blues head to 12 key? I am in a jazz masters program and need to do a blues in 12 keys. Thanks for the help man, love your sound, videos, and what you do for Jazz. Thanks!!
+Kyle Hill Blue Monk; Sonnymoon For Two; Straight, No Chaser;
It makes sense. Better than learning in twelve keys that you probably will not use all at all.
First lesson in practice is discipline. And understand what that discipline means. There's no sidestepping shortcutting being a musician... a pseudo musician instrumentalist ultimately is all we'll get if we don't do due diligence... And also a prospective change on the privilege to learn an instrument every bit of knowledge is a privilege take it slow trust your memory.. as far as going through all keys I did it with recorder.. the small whistle flute toy . as a saxophone player. Once you learn the template of learning it comes as a breeze.. basic skill-building exercises introduce you to Intervale hearing transition through all keys to warm up.. even on a recorder. You really do need to learn to read in all keys also absolutely essential . . slower faster it will become but not with mistakes.. not acceptable then get a yo-yo or a juice-harp
so glad i just shift position on the guitar and i changed key ahaha
Super answer for a stupid question
Perché non metti la settima nel sostituto di tritino dell'accordo minore? Su Bb- ad esempio scrivi Bb,Db,F,Bb(?),C...?! Perché non metti il Ab?
Why you don't put the seventh in the minor substitute tritium? On Bb - for example you write Bb, Db, F, Bb (?), C ...? Why don't you put the Ab?
Just practice Cherokee in 12 keys
lost me I need music theory lesson
So wait ..... tenor sax is a minor third down from what every key you're naming ?
If you play with guitarists F# is coming for you
parla meno e suona di più
Carlo Fabbri D.N.F.T.T.
The goal is not to copy and sound like any one else
The more you copy (great examples), the more you enable yourself to sound uniquely you. This is the way. You don't learn to speak Italian by not copying and not sounding like anyone else. We all learn to speak the same way: from listening, copying, and attempting to emulate our parents/guardians/community. ruclips.net/video/VdKFZqEkcg4/видео.html