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I have actually been tuning a Bangla language song strictly on B Minor Blues notes so far both the melody and the chords are concerned. I'm done with the tune now. All the minor blues songs I listen to goes beyond the minor blues note-set. I wonder why. Is it not possible to create a blues song particularly with minor blues note-set? What then makes a blues song a blues song as far as the notes and chords are taken into consideration?

I wonder if I could listen to a blues song that contains strictly minor blues note-set and chords.

Elements In Space
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Unguarded Flower
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  • This is an identification question which will be closed shortly but if you only count the melody and not the notes in the chords “The Thrill is Gone” by B.B.King pretty much fits that description. I’m sure there are others although limiting yourself to one key will narrow it down quite a bit. – John Belzaguy May 15 '23 at 07:03
  • Interested - why do you need this information? – Tim May 15 '23 at 07:17
  • Thank you, @john-belzaguy. I have to learn how to ask a question here. I'll try. (Please also see my other comment here.) – Unguarded Flower May 17 '23 at 10:51
  • Thanks, @Tim. Actually I have been tuning a Bangla language song strictly on B Minor Blues notes so far both the melody and the chords are concerned. I'm done with the tune now. All the minor blues songs I listen to goes beyond the minor blues note-set. I wonder why. Is it not possible to create a blues song particularly with minor blues note-set? What then makes a blues song a blues song? – Unguarded Flower May 17 '23 at 10:53
  • There aren't that many minor blues songs anyway. Most blues uses major ( dom. seventh) chords, and the melody moves between major and minor blues notes. Might be an interesting question to ask, but I suspect it's already here somewhere. – Tim May 17 '23 at 11:10
  • Thanks, @Tim. Very helpful comment it is for me. I also guess there are discussions here in this forum. I'm now consulting three of them perhaps:

    [A] https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/7755/does-playing-in-scale-mean-only-using-notes-from-that-scale?rq=1

    [B] https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/69960/what-is-it-about-the-blues-chord-progression-that-makes-the-blues-feel/70005

    [C] https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/11459/how-are-blues-chords-constructed-from-the-scale?rq=1

     – Unguarded Flower May 17 '23 at 14:13
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    The biggest thing that "makes the blues the blues" is not the set of chords or melodic notes used. Blues isn't a "key," it's a genre. The form is one of the biggest factors, like the familiar 12-bar pattern. One can also argue quite seriously that extra-musical concerns matter too in "what counts as blues," like subject matter and even the artist's lived experience. So sure, you could use only the notes of the given scale, or go outside it, without much impact on whether the song was considered blues. – Andy Bonner May 17 '23 at 16:16
  • I don't understand why this is viewed as an identification question – Todd Wilcox May 17 '23 at 17:17
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    @ToddWilcox Check out its earliest version in the history, before it was closed. Subsequent edits have clarified a lot. – Andy Bonner May 17 '23 at 17:42
  • Short answer: it's minor because of the minor third above the tonic. – Michael Curtis May 17 '23 at 19:13
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    @ToddWilcox I agree that the question can be reopened. In its current form, it goes beyond just asking for an example of a song. – Aaron May 17 '23 at 19:39
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    I have my doubts about reopening this question given its last paragraph, "I wonder if I could listen to a blues song that contains strictly minor blues note-set and chords." – Dekkadeci May 18 '23 at 05:29
  • The question is still unclear to me. Please provide some example(s) of the minor blues songs you listened to, which notes you were expecting it to be limited to, and which notes did not fit this expectation. I'm afraid without it we can only guess what are you asking about. – user1079505 May 26 '23 at 03:27
  • E.g. is the concern that the iv chord includes ^b6, which isn't typically listed in a blues scale? – user1079505 May 26 '23 at 03:42

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