Re: [Harp-L] blues on chromatic - in all keys!

[rmcgraw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

> Are there players who play blues
> on one chromatic - in several (all?) keys?
>Sergei
---Sure...it's not that unusual. I can play blues on my C chromatic in all
12 major keys and all 12 minor keys, though some of the keys I'm not as
good in...Jamey Aebersold has a couple of play-alongs called "Blues in All
Keys" and "Minor Blues." Part of my daily practice routine is to choose
one of the keys  [I cycle thru the Circle of Fourths] and play along with
the corresponding tracks...today I'm on the key of F, so I played along
with the F and Fminor tracks.
   There are lots of reasons to do this...I've read a number of places
that Charlie Parker learned to play the blues in all 12 keys as part of
his study, and while I could practice 10 hours a day for 100 years and
still couldn't play like him, doing this helps me learn the layout of
my instrument, it helps me learn how to deal with dom 7th chords,
etc,etc...but mainly we all just love to play the blues, right?
   If you want a tip on how to get started with this, maybe buy the
playalongs cause that's a great way to have a blues in each key to
practice to, try taking one key at a time, whichever one is easiest for
you...learn the blues scale in that key, then jam along with that key
until you feel comfortable there...then move to the next key, and on
and on...if you don't know the Circle of Fourths [it's just the Circle
of Fifths backwards...jazz/ blues players use it that way often], just
go online and find a copy and print it...go by that cause you won't
have to think about it and in a few months you'll have painlessly
memorized it...
    Good luck and have fun with this!!!
WVa Bob