Blues Riff I Made up - Any ideas for a key

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grock
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Blues Riff I Made up - Any ideas for a key

Post by grock »

Yep its Greg and i'm asking a theory question.

i was practicing blues riffs last night and turnarounds and my finger slipped and i came up with this mostly by accident. i spent the rest of the night trying to figure a key for it.

Code: Select all

--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------7-9-6-7------------------
------------------5-7-8-7------5-7-8---------7-8-5~~-7-8-5~~--
-------5---5-7~~----------7~~---------------------------------
-5-6-7---7----------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
the vibratos are where there is a one beat pause. there is a half beat pause on that first 8. now the question is what the heck key could i possibly play this in. an astute reader will notice that it has D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, and A. PLus there is a C note in there for good measure. arghh. that's 8 chromatic tones in a row. i am at a loss of where to put this and where i could play it. it sounds really cool. any help would be so so awesome.

feel free to ask other boards where you may be members i just have no idea who to bring this too. i'm usually able to figure stuff out.
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Post by dustin »

i think someone has been watching them blue docmentorys on pbs alittle to much heh j/k
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Post by Trippin Hillbilly »

i have no friggen idea but that's a cool avatar..except that looks like a bass...........still cool..
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Post by gcom007 »

A blues I suppose, although I don't really like the riff, the one part at the end sounds weird...
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Post by Trippin Hillbilly »

that 7-9-6-7 sounds a bit odd..maybe I just suck.
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Post by gcom007 »

Trippin Hillbilly wrote:that 7-9-6-7 sounds a bit odd..maybe I just suck.
no, it sounds odd...you can't really play it against anything...
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Re: Blues Riff I Made up - Any ideas for a key

Post by fatjack »

grock wrote:Yep its Greg and i'm asking a theory question.

i was practicing blues riffs last night and turnarounds and my finger slipped and i came up with this mostly by accident. i spent the rest of the night trying to figure a key for it.

Code: Select all

--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------7-9-6-7------------------
------------------5-7-8-7------5-7-8---------7-8-5~~-7-8-5~~--
-------5---5-7~~----------7~~---------------------------------
-5-6-7---7----------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
the vibratos are where there is a one beat pause. there is a half beat pause on that first 8. now the question is what the heck key could i possibly play this in. an astute reader will notice that it has D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, and A. PLus there is a C note in there for good measure. arghh. that's 8 chromatic tones in a row. i am at a loss of where to put this and where i could play it. it sounds really cool. any help would be so so awesome.

feel free to ask other boards where you may be members i just have no idea who to bring this too. i'm usually able to figure stuff out.
its stays in the A blues scale except for the 7967 run... you could just write that F# and G# in as accidentals, but i dont think they sound good, unless you treat them as passing tones
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Post by AdrianJE »

im just not feeling it. it just seems way to bright for a blue theme. by the by.. are you white and what is your name and how many peopel have you killed in memphis?
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Re: Blues Riff I Made up - Any ideas for a key

Post by grock »

fatjack wrote: its stays in the A blues scale except for the 7967 run... you could just write that F# and G# in as accidentals, but i dont think they sound good, unless you treat them as passing tones
yeah that part is fast. so definately passing tones. it has a couple tritones in there too. i can't post a recording cuz i don't have an internet connection right now. i'll see what i can do. cuz it kinda modulates there. that was my problem. it actually does sound right if you play it right but tabs are never good at conveying timing.
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Post by grock »

i was thinking something with D since it starts there and ends there. thanks. i am gonna have to bring this to show someone instead of just posting it. maybe i can make a midi of it.
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Post by grock »

AdrianJE wrote:im just not feeling it. it just seems way to bright for a blue theme. by the by.. are you white and what is your name and how many peopel have you killed in memphis?
ok i made a midi. (i can't believe they pay me while i do things like this) yeah it is more swing blues than anything. good call. it reminds me of that kid in the music commercial that's playing a small sax. save the music.

there's two versions. cuz i think i left out a note or two. i was working from memory.

Code: Select all

 E E E E E E Q    E E E E E Q  E   E E E E E E E E   E E Q  E E Q    W
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|---------------|------|
|----------------|----------------|-----7-9-6-7-----|---------------|------|
|----------------|-5-7-8-7-5----5-|-7-8---------7-8-|-7-8-5--7-8-5--|------|
|-------5---5-7--|-----------7----|-----------------|---------------|------|
|-5-6-7---7------|----------------|-----------------|---------------|------|
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|---------------|------|


  E E E E E E Q    E E E E E Q  E   E E E E E E E E   E Q  E E Q.
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|---------------*|
|----------------|----------------|-----7-9-6-7-----|---------------*|
|----------------|-5-7-8-7-5----5-|-7-8---------7-8-|-7-5--7-8-5----*|
|-------5---5-7--|-----------7----|-----------------|---------------*|
|-5-6-7---7------|----------------|-----------------|---------------*|
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|---------------*|
and here is a midi for a general idea about it. i wish i could record cuz a midi just doesn't do it justice. and i could figure out how to make it any faster. so it should be faster. i am so opposite of ghetto that i am ghetto.
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~schmeer/meh.mid

it's ok if you think it sucks. i liked it much more yesterday. it definately fits with A. so good show you guys. faster is def. better. anyways. peace.
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Post by grock »

ok i figured it out. it is an Am blues riff right up to that 9 (G#) that everyone was concerned about. there it works on the melodic minor (raised 6th and 7th scale degrees when ascending the scale) so that's where the G# and F# come from. oh it makes so much more sense now.

it is a bit too happy for blues so i may use it for more rock stuff. thanks to everyone but i gotta give props to the tim board cuz my buddy there actually figured the melodic minor stuff. word up.
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Post by waffle_house_jam »

yeah, that sounds about right. i think you can get away with A as well, since that's the root of the pentatonic you're in most of the time
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Post by fatjack »

grock wrote:ok i figured it out. it is an Am blues riff right up to that 9 (G#) that everyone was concerned about. there it works on the melodic minor (raised 6th and 7th scale degrees when ascending the scale) so that's where the G# and F# come from. oh it makes so much more sense now.

it is a bit too happy for blues so i may use it for more rock stuff. thanks to everyone but i gotta give props to the tim board cuz my buddy there actually figured the melodic minor stuff. word up.
i knew it sounded like the melodic minor! would have mentioned it but i dont wanna confuse too many people :(

yeah, that little lick doesn't make sound bluesy at all... damn that major 7th!
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Post by grock »

fatjack wrote:
grock wrote:ok i figured it out. it is an Am blues riff right up to that 9 (G#) that everyone was concerned about. there it works on the melodic minor (raised 6th and 7th scale degrees when ascending the scale) so that's where the G# and F# come from. oh it makes so much more sense now.

it is a bit too happy for blues so i may use it for more rock stuff. thanks to everyone but i gotta give props to the tim board cuz my buddy there actually figured the melodic minor stuff. word up.
i knew it sounded like the melodic minor! would have mentioned it but i dont wanna confuse too many people :(

yeah, that little lick doesn't make sound bluesy at all... damn that major 7th!
see it makes so much sense when someone tells you, huh? i felt so dumb that i missed that when my friend posted the melodic minor stuff.
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