The disadvantage is that the root of the scale is an avoid note in this context. The advantage of using this scale in this example is that it differs from the B locrian and A melodic minor scales by only one note each. Even when you are not using the harmonic minor scale over an entire progression, you may wish to use its fifth mode over the V chord in a minor key ii-V-i progression. Another way of saying this is that the second mode can be played over a m7b5 chord, and that the fifth mode can be used over an altered dominant chord. An A harmonic minor scale can be played over all three of these chords, instead of the traditional B locrian, E altered, and A melodic minor scales. For example, consider the chord progression | Bm7b5 | E7alt | Am-maj7 |. Its modes have no common names, and they are rarely used by jazz musicians except as bridges over a ii-V-i chord progression. The harmonic minor scale is sometimes played over m-maj7 chords. This can include honking and screaming for saxophonists, growling for brass players, or using clusters on the piano. One way to introduce added interest when using the blues scale is to use any special effects at your disposal to vary your sound. It is not always necessary to vary the harmonic content of your playing if you are sufficiently creative with other aspects. This advice transcends the blues scale, of course. Often players like Count Basie are offered as examples of musicians who manage to make a lot out of a little, but there is a difference between saying few words because you are choosing them carefully, and saying few words because you have nothing to say or because your vocabulary is too limited to express your thoughts. It is hard to say interesting things with a limited vocabulary. But do not become so enamored of the easy gratification it can yield that you practice blues licks over and over rather than expand your harmonic vocabulary. This is not to say you should never use the blues scale on the contrary, it is vitally important to jazz. There are only so many phrases (licks) that can be played over a six note scale, and most of them have already been played thousands of times by now. This unfortunately leads many players to overuse the scale, and to run out of interesting ideas quickly. If you try playing lines based on this usage, for instance, a C blues scale over a C7 chord, you get instant positive feedback, since almost everything you can do sounds good. The beauty of the blues scale is that it can be played over an entire blues progression with no real avoid notes. The minor pentatonic scale can thus be used as a substitute for the blues scale, and vice versa. Also, note that if the flatted fifth is omitted, the resultant scale is the minor pentatonic scale. Variations on the blues scale that include the natural third, fifth, or seventh can be used as well. The flatted seventh and fifth are also sometimes called blue notes, and are not always sung or played exactly on the notated pitch.

In instrumental music, various techniques are employed to achieve the same effect, such as stretching the string while playing an Eb on a stringed instrument, lipping down an E on a wind instrument, or striking both the Eb and E simultaneously on a keyboard instrument. In vocal music, it is often sung somewhere between an Eb and an E.

The second degree of this scale, which is the flatted third of the minor scale, is called a blue note. The C blues scale consists of вЂњC, Eb, F, F#, G, BbвЂќ. This scale supposedly has its roots in African American music dating back to the days of slavery, but the exact origins of its modern incarnation are unknown. The blues scale is often the first scale, after the major scale, taught to beginning improvisers, and is in some cases the only other scale they ever learn. This is sometimes called harmonic generalization. For the most part, they can be used as bridges between chords, allowing you to play either the same or very closely related scales over two or more different chords.

The scales in this section are mostly derived from chord progressions rather than specific chords.

Melodic minor scales bluew