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Blues scale with the “blue note”
The minor pentatonic plus a flattened fifth, the “blue note”. Three notes a semitone apart are the heart of blues and soul.
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with one extra note: the flattened fifth, the “blue note”. Going up you sing root, minor third, fourth, flattened fifth, fifth, minor seventh and octave, then return the same way. Three neighboring semitones around the fifth give the scale its bluesy tension, and singing them in tune is a real test of pitch control. “Noh” starts with a soft “n” and keeps the vowel round and steady.
How to do it
- Listen to the piano play the scale once, then sing it with the piano on “noh” after the two count-in clicks.
- Treat the fourth, flattened fifth and fifth as three small, separate steps. Don't slide between them.
- Check those three blocks on the roll. Each should turn green in its own place.
- Keep the line light on the way down, then hold the last root steady for two beats.
- Each repetition moves up a semitone through your range, then back down. Lower the tempo if the semitones blur.
Coach's tip: Sing the semitones around the fifth in small steps, without sliding. If they blur together, slow down – each has its own place on the roll.
What to watch out for
The semitones around the fifth are where this exercise gets honest. Singers often slide through the flattened fifth, or sing it too close to the fifth above, so two blocks merge into one. Slow the tempo until each note has its own green block. The way down is trickier than the way up, because tired breath makes the line sag. Keep the volume modest, and stop if your throat feels tight.
Who it's for
A level 3 exercise for singers who already manage Minor pentatonic with clean thirds and want more color. Use it in the main block rather than as your first notes of the day. Blues run (minor pentatonic) is a good follow-up, since it uses the same sound at speed. As part of the R&B / soul style, it gets priority in the daily training when you pick that style.
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Related exercises
- Chromatic (5 notes) Each next note a semitone higher. An extreme intonation test.
- 9-note scale More than an octave – you pass through the passaggio both ways.
- Broken thirds 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5... Trains thinking in intervals.
- Bebop scale down The mixolydian scale with one extra semitone between the octave and the minor seventh. Thanks to it, in swing the tones of the seventh chord land on the strong beats.
- Twang on “nyah” A bright, narrow “nyah” on the first five scale degrees, holding the fifth. Twang is the safe base of rock edge – the voice sounds sharp while the throat stays loose.
- Scat warm-up in swing Root, second, third, fifth and back down – lightly, on “doo-bee”. Swing rhythm: the first note of each pair is longer, the second short, as in jazz.