Blues Progressions and Blues Scale

Originally, the blues was a personal and individual expression of feelings. It could be about a certain event, or an experience they had, or perhaps some form of hardship they had to endure or about every day life in general. Slavery, for example, provided lyrics for many blues people. The men sang about the inhumane treatment they received under the master's whip. The women sang about the many rapes and sexual acts they had to perform to both the slave master and sometimes to his wife or mistress. These were the lyrics associated with the early or primitive blues.

However, W. C. Handy, around the early 1900s saw the commercial value of the blues and began to update and modify the blues progressions. Gradually, the placement of the I-IV-V chords began to change in their location within the twelve bar blues pattern.

Basically, there are only six notes to a blues scale. They are arranged in the order of a minor third, a major second, a minor second, a minor second, a minor third and a major second.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, African-Americans have used the blues to express their feelings in song that had played a major influence in their culture. The country blues was the first type of blues to be identified. Its lyrics were primarily focused on sexual relationships. Women selling sex.

Buddy Bolden, king of the trumpet players, was known to play "low-down" blues' Jetty Roll Morton although known to be ragtime and jazz pianist was very much at home playing the blues. Lil Hardin, the noted jazz pianist with King Oliver's band and later to become Mrs. Louis Armstrong was also recognized as a great blues player. Lucille Hegarnin whom Mamie Smith referred to as a singer of the blues recorded her biggest blues hit "Arkansas Blues" with the accornpaniment of the Blue Flame Syncopaters which was released on eleven different record labels.