How To Sing A Minor Blues Scale

Tips for building your blues singing voice

Hi Singing Fam! After the Major Scale, the minor blues scale is a super important scale to add to your bag of scales that you know how to sing.

We all know that cool bluesy sound when we hear it, but can you tell the difference between a major and a minor blues scale? Can you switch between the two? Do you know what notes you are actually hitting?

This scale is used for some fantastic jazzy/bluesy songs like ‘Stormy Monday’ or ‘Stormy Weather’ so its definitely one to learn. Today we’ll break down this scale and I’ll take you through some fun bluesy sing-along exercises to show you how versatile and useful this scale is when it comes to improvising.

Nicola x

What is the Blues?

Blues music is an American folk form that originated in the Deep South. It has roots in African culture that is mixed with European influences. Blues traces its origins back to work songs sung by people who were enslaved in the United States around the time of the American Civil War.

The slaves would often sing work songs to keep their spirits up while they were working in the fields. They sang these songs because they couldn’t speak out against their unfair treatment.

The blues is typically based around 12 measures that are sung over three chords. The chords are usually I, IV, and V7 chords. One of the most common blues scales is the minor blues scale which has six notes.

Whether you’re at home, singing in your car, or performing on stage, it’s important to know how to sing a minor blues scale so you can build your blues voice. Have a look at what the notation and phonics of this scale are below:

How to Sing a Minor Blues Scale

The blues are typically characterized by a slow tempo, deep bass lines, and long strings of notes. The blues scale is just one of many scales that can be used with this type of music, but the major and minor blues scale make up a large portion, so it just makes sense to get to know these scales.

There are many greats who have contributed to blues history, such as Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf, but while these musicians may have been pioneers of blues music, you don’t need to be a pro musician or singer to learn to sing the blues! You just need a bit of soul, and musical know how.

Watch the video tutorial to sing along with me and learn this scale, or grab my VITAL SCALES CD which guides you through the 10 most commonly used scales in music.

Like this tutorial?

I’d love to know if you enjoyed this tutorial in the comments below.

Also, check out these other tutorials I’ve created for you that are similar:

Fun Improvisation Exercise

More Beginner Scales for Singers

Learn to sing a Major Scale here