Hard Bop Trumpet Blues Licks with Fingerings: 3 Lines

These hard bop trumpet blues licks with fingerings start with a familiar snag: the valves move, but the E-flat to E still stumbles. I slow that change down before asking it to swing. Speed is a poor repair tool.

All notes and chords below are written for B-flat trumpet. Written C sounds concert B-flat, so use a concert B-flat blues backing track. These are original exercises, not transcriptions.

Set up your notes and pulse

Start at quarter note = 72. Swing paired eighth notes with a gentle long-short feel. Don't nail that ratio to the floor. Keep quarter notes steady.

The home scale is written C blues: C–E-flat–F–G-flat–G–B-flat–C. You'll also use E-natural, C7's major third, and A-natural when moving to F7.

| Written note | Valves | |---|---| | C4, middle C below the staff | Open | | E-flat4 | 2–3 | | E4 | 1–2 | | F4 | 1 | | G-flat4 | 2–3 | | G4 | Open | | A4 | 1–2 | | B-flat4 | 1 | | C5, third-space C | Open |

Valve numbers mean pressed valves; open means none pressed. E-flat4 and G-flat4 share a fingering but use different partials. I hear the pitch before moving my fingers. The valves don't do the whole job.

For a refresher, use the practical trumpet fingering guide.

Three hard bop trumpet blues licks with fingerings

Each phrase lasts one bar of 4/4. An “and” means the eighth-note subdivision after a numbered beat. Parentheses show valves.

1. Make the minor third resolve

Notes: C4 (open), E-flat4 (2–3), E4 (1–2), G4 (open), C5 (open).

Rhythm: Play C4 on beat 1 and E-flat4 on its “and.” Play E4 on beat 2 and G4 on its “and.” Hold C5 for beats 3–4.

E-flat leans against the chord. E-natural brings it home before the climb to C. I want that half step to sound intentional, not apologetic.

Loop E-flat–E slowly. Keep valve 2 down while exchanging valves 3 and 1. Uneven movement can slip an unwanted note between them.

Then add G–C. Both are open. Hear the rising fourth before playing it, and don't squeeze the upper C into place.

Practice This In JazzValve

Open the C blues scale screen. Play the scale slowly, then add the lick's E-natural separately. It isn't part of the blues scale.

2. Let the blue note pass through

Notes: G4 (open), G-flat4 (2–3), F4 (1), E-flat4 (2–3), C4 (open).

Rhythm: Take a quarter rest on beat 1. Play G4 on beat 2, G-flat4 on its “and,” F4 on beat 3, and E-flat4 on its “and.” Finish with C4 as a quarter note on beat 4.

G-flat is where this descent lives or dies. I let it speak, then move on to F. Don't stomp on it just because it's the blue note.

Slur G–G-flat first. Get valves 2 and 3 moving together. Add light tonguing only after the change is clean.

Keep the opening rest honest. This line answers something; it doesn't need to interrupt.

Practice This In JazzValve

Return to the C blues scale screen. Isolate G–G-flat–F on your horn, then restore the opening rest and finish the phrase.

Aim at the change

3. Aim at the seventh

Notes: C5 (open), B-flat4 (1), G4 (open), E4 (1–2), G4 (open), B-flat4 (1).

Rhythm: Play eighth notes on beats 1 and 2: C5–B-flat4–G4–E4. Play G4 as a quarter note on beat 3 and B-flat4 as a quarter note on beat 4.

E and B-flat spell out C7's character. I use this line in bar 4, where the ending has somewhere useful to go.

Play A4 (1–2) on beat 1 of bar 5. B-flat descending to A lands on F7's major third. That small move makes the chord change audible.

Practice This In JazzValve

Use the C blues scale screen to settle C, G, and B-flat. Then practice E-natural and the B-flat–A resolution separately on your horn.

Put the phrases inside the blues

Try these hard bop trumpet blues licks with fingerings over this simple written-chord form:

C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | F7 | F7 | C7 | C7 | G7 | F7 | C7 | G7

Play phrase 1 in bar 1, phrase 2 in bar 3, and phrase 3 in bar 4. Leave bar 2 empty. After A in bar 5, rest and listen.

Hear Lee Morgan on “Moanin’” from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' Moanin’. Then hear Clifford Brown on “Blues Walk” from Clifford Brown and Max Roach. Listen for attacks, space, and endings—not these exact lines.

Your next five minutes

Play one phrase twice. Change only its ending. Record a chorus and check whether your rests stay steady. I listen for the pulse before judging the notes.

Where to go next

• Connect the last four bars with Hard Bop Trumpet Turnaround Licks with Fingerings.
• Simplify your material with 5 Easy Jazz Trumpet Blues Riffs with Fingerings.
• Check uncertain valve changes in the practical trumpet fingering guide.