BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
5587 / 18210 · Workshop 39 — “Watermelon Man”: Blues-Funk Vocabulary, Dominant Vamps, Riffs as Harmony, and Making Repetition Feel Inevitable Instead of Boring← prev⊞ allnext →

39.17Two vocabularies over F7

Mixolydian

F G A B♭ C D E♭

Blues

F A♭ B♭ B C E♭

The key expressive difference:

Mixolydian has A natural.

Blues emphasizes A♭, plus B natural ♭5.

Combining them creates characteristic blues-jazz vocabulary.