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The assignment > The assignment - Pg. 139

a TV sitcom theme Tip 139 It's possible to invent simple tunes very quickly using the pentatonic scale on the piano. How? ­ by using only the black notes starting with F#. Info Ablues scale has only one more note than the pentatonic scale, but what a difference it makes! It's used frequently by jazz and rock soloists alike. In the key of C it will consist of: C D Eb E G A. but is usually played beginning on A, like this: A C D Eb E G A and referred to as the A blues scale. of notes suitable for something rustic and folky. In our case the blues scale, which contains one more note than a pentatonic scale, is just the job. A pentatonic tune in the key of C will consist of the following notes: C D E G A. OK, which key? Well tenor sax was mentioned in the brief. The key of Bb/Gm is a good key for tenor and actually puts the player in the nice easy key of C/Am. So the blues scale for this key is G Bb C C# D F G. `That's all very well,' I can hear you say, `the blues scale is fine for improvisation but surely it is too limiting for composing a theme tune.' Well, it's surprising just how much can be done with those six notes particularly if more than one blues scale is used. For this tune we are also going to use the C blues scale, C Eb F F# G Bb C and the D blues scale, D F G G# A C D. Let's construct a tune. Why does the key of Bb put the tenor saxophone player in the key of C? Because it is a transposing instrument. A tenor saxophone is pitched in Bb. When a pianist plays the note Bb, at concert pitch, the tenor sax player blows a tone higher ­ the note C. Likewise if the pianist was to play Eb then the tenor sax player would again play a tone higher ­ the note Info