What is altered in a blues scale?

What is altered in a blues scale?

• A. The third and seventh degrees can be lowered, stay the same, or be in between
• B. The first degree must always be sharpened
• C. All notes are raised by a semitone
• D. The scale includes only perfect fifths

Answer: (A)

Blues scales get their distinctive sound from changing two fixed steps in the scale: the third and the seventh degrees. In practice, these notes are often lowered to create the “blue” color (a minor-third feel and a flat-seventh feel), but musicians can also choose to keep them as their major versions or even use notes in between to color the line. This flexibility on those two degrees is what defines the blues sound, rather than altering every note, sharpening the first degree, or only using perfect fifths. For example, in a C blues context you’ll hear Eb and Bb as the blue notes, with the surrounding tones forming the scale around them.

Blues scales get their distinctive sound from changing two fixed steps in the scale: the third and the seventh degrees. In practice, these notes are often lowered to create the “blue” color (a minor-third feel and a flat-seventh feel), but musicians can also choose to keep them as their major versions or even use notes in between to color the line. This flexibility on those two degrees is what defines the blues sound, rather than altering every note, sharpening the first degree, or only using perfect fifths. For example, in a C blues context you’ll hear Eb and Bb as the blue notes, with the surrounding tones forming the scale around them.