helllllp!! i'm stuck in the blues

[soundofphysics]

i have a pretty well stacked arsenal of scales, and i'm equally influenced by jazz as i am the blues themselves- but whenever i sit down to jsut jam with soem folks my hands jump straigh to the pentatonics et all. I alwyas try to keep my scales tight so i practice them enough, and right songs in all kinds of 'em, but it doesn't seem to help. anybody got any ideas. Maybe its a sign, lol maybe i'm stuck with the blues.

J-P

[Bruce Lindfield]

I'm no real expert, but I think one answer is to build up scales out of thirds, continually moving across the fingerboard and practising using the upper extensions of chords. The other things is to concentrate on the notes which make the chords distinctive - pentatonic playing usually avoids this. Look for how you can fit these notes in - there are quite a lot of books out there which will be a great help. I can recommend the "Jazz Theory Book" by Mark Levine and others have pointed to this as a good source.

One thing that helped me a lot with this, was to choose a song (Jazz Standard) that had a lot of chords and key changes and to really study it and then try to find as many ways as possible though the chords, so that you can still hear the changes but avoiding root motion. I'm sure others will have better tips on this...

[soundofphysics]

thankx, that is a pretty darn good idea, now if only i get get my guitarist to learn some jazz structure- their all they're same arn't they- premadonna's, lol

[top028]

I have the same problem...I started learning some classic rock tunes, latin and reggae stuff. (some still in pentatonic, but fun) now I am playing more fourths, thirds and other stuff. I found playing minor scales and seventh scales helped me move out of the pentatonic slump. I just feel the pentatonic so stong...I hear what you are saying. I started out with the blues, and moved to funk. My roots are in the pentatonic.

[JMX]

I found that there's sth like a gordian knot that just happens to break eventually...it depends a lot on your mood while performing. It happened to me at a very cool jam/party with some other bands from our neighbourhood. Before I always was hesitant while jamming, especially when playing with some scary prog-rockers on guitar and drums...but on this occasion I didn't care and it made all the difference...
Listening to other styles of music helps, too - new influencen are going to rub off on you and enhance the way you hear and play your music...

[theflying007]

And then again..... being stuck in th blues is not that bad at all.... There are worse things you can get stuck in. (Be glad you didn't get stuck in Irak for example).

[Bassguy87564]

I would say your best bet would be instead of just practice the scales by going up and down practice them to a cd of chords or one of the cd's in a bass book. Its one thing to know the scales its another thing to put them into use. Just keep practicing to a cd so can practice using the scales. This might not work for you but what I do before I am going to play a certain genera of music is to listen to the style of music.

[Bruce Lindfield]

You just answered a question that was asked in the year 2000 - only 7 years late!!