Blues in E on Chromatic - Part 5

Part 5 – Sweetening Avoid Note #1, first third

If you’ve been following the previous installments, you’ve learned to play the E minor blues scale on chromatic, including one slide-in blue note (B-flat, the flat 5).

The slide can help you sweeten up a couple of sour-sounding notes that will expand your palette of sounds when you play in E. Both these notes sound very sour in a blue context.

The two notes are F and C. These are in the class of notes called “avoid notes” – you avoid playing them because they sound so sour and wrong. By playing them with the slide in, you turn them into F# and C#, which are much sweeter sounding.

In this installment I’ll get you going on F# – that’s avoid note #1 because it’s the sourest-sounding of the two.

Start by playing 2B (Hole 2 blow). This is E, your home note. Now inhale while pressing the slide button in, and alternate between them:

2B – 2D< – 2B – 2D< (etc.)

When you move to the slide-in draw note, you may experience three things:

-- You move the slide a little too early and get a slide-in blow note

-- You move the slide a little too late and get a slide-out draw note before you get the slide-in note

-- You coordinate the moves perfectly and go from Blow 3 to slide-in Draw F#.

Any of the three can sound good, but you want to be able to control which result you get by practicing the move.

Work on playing these two notes in Hole 2, then move up an octave and play them in Hole 6 as well.

Now try using F# in a few licks:

2B – 2D< – 2B – 1D – 2B – 3B – 3D – 3B

2B – 2D< – 2B – 3B – 3D – 4D – 3D – 3B

6B – 6D< – 6B – 5D – 4D

6B – 6D< – 6B – 5D – 4D – 5D – 4D – 3D< – 3D – 3B – 2B

2B – 3B – 4D – 5D – 6B – 6D< – 6B – 5D – 4D

6D< – 6B – 5D – 4D – 3D – 3B – 2B

6D< – 6D – 6B – 5D – 4D – 3D< – 3D – 3B – 2B

6B – 6D< – 6B – 5D – 4D – 5D – 4D – 3D< – 3D – 3B – 2B

Try making up more licks that use this new move.