Hayden Hill
Hayden founded PianoGroove in 2015 with the goal of making the world a more musical place. He shares his love for jazz piano through his online courses and manages the community area of PianoGroove.
May 8 · 2024
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- 12 Bar Blus Substitution Options
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Seminar Description
Seminar Description
Learn common substitutions for the 12 bar blues in C. We explore diminished chords, walk-ups, iv minor chord, backdoor 251s, and chromatic dominants.
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12 Bar Blues Chord Substitutions
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Welcome…thanks for the seminar, Hayden! Good to see you!
Hey Scott 👋
Nice to hear from you.
I have just added the chapter markings to the seminar to better navigate the contents.
I also added blue highlights to the notation throughout the video.
Talk soon!
Hayden
Hi Hayden. Working my way through this seminar. It’s ifun, but a bit of a struggle for me. It would be very helpful if you could add a pdf in the key of C which parallels page 2 of the Suspended Trial Fills pdf (in F) from the Slow Blues Beginners course. Thanks in advance.
I think I worked it out. Just took a while.
Hey Wendy 👋
I hope you’re well!
Yes I will ensure all of the notation is created with the course coming shortly, and that it follows the same style as the F Slow Blues PDF files.
It is a good exercise to try to visualise this without notation, although I appreciate it can be a little slow to start with. Always think the triad built a 4th up from the root, then put the top note on the bottom to get the second inversion.
We can also visualise it as the top 2 notes moving, for example if we take a C triad in root position (C-E-G) and move the middle note up a half step, and the top note up a full step, we then have C-F-A which is the triad built a 4th up in its second inversion. Repeating this for all 3 chords in the blues could be a nice warm up visualisation drill.
I’m aiming to get the first series of C Blues lessons published this month – more updates to follow!
Talk soon,
Hayden
You have not discussed blues shuffles. Are these shuffles comparable with the style that you are teaching? If they are, will you include a discussion of them? Thanks
Hey Edwin 👋
Yes I will be covering shuffles in the very near future. My plan is to show how to transition from a slow 12/8 blues into a blues shuffle, and vice-versa. The key of C will be perfect to demonstrate this.
I will get the lessons finished and published which you can find in the PDF download on this page, and then I will focus my attention on blues shuffle patterns.
Thanks for the suggestion and talk soon,
Hayden
On the 4 chord in c blues you should be able to play a f major blues pentatonic ( f g Aflat a c and d) not limit it to c minor blues
This way you get the Aflat to a blues sound
and on g chord play a g maj blues pentatonic to get the Bflat to b sound
Do you agree
Hi Lance,
Yes you are absolutely correct.
We can also think in terms of chord tones, for example, R-3-5-6-7 of the F7, add the b3, and then we pretty much have the F major blues scale with the addition of the Eb the b7.
The C minor blues scale over F7 creates a darker, funkier sound with the extra dissonance created by the b9 (Gb).
Using the F major blues scale over F7 creates a happier sound which more closely fits with the F7 chord tones as highlighted above.
Both can be used and so familiarise yourself with both of these ‘sounds’.
My latest course “Blues Substitutions & Improvisation” is currently being edited and uploaded to the website. The course expands upon the contents of this seminar.
I still have a few more lessons to record but the bulk of the course is already recorded and will be available on the website soon. Keep an eye in the community area for updates.
Talk soon,
Hayden