--seed,

Your post made one of those little "Aha" lights go off in my head.

Your quote "...the flatted seventh of the IV7 chord (A7 in E) is the flatted third of the key scale, that is, the note that makes a scale minor..." provided a somewhat unrelated bridge to something I had puzzled over.

Some months ago I was working out the rhythm parts to a few Robert Cray tunes from "Some Rainy Morning." And I'm noticing more than a smattering of minor chords in his songs. Now I know that minor chords in blues are not unheard of, but it was more of a departure than I'm accustomed to, as I normally work out in that I-IV7-V7 pattern to which you alluded. It sounds like blues to my ear, but with all these minor chords I'm playing I'm thinking, Damn, this ought to sound more like folk. *BG*

Your comments above dovetailed with my random observations to provide me a coherent explanation of why the minor chords fit so well within the blues structure. That was better than finding a few crumpled dollars in my blue jeans survived the laundry. Thank you.

BTW, M.Ted says when I'm playing a pentatonic scale I only think I'm playing a pentatonic scale. I'm afraid to ask. But you, with your vast knowledge(ahem)and(ahem) adept skills at explaining things so that music theory challenged individuals,(cough,cough)such as myself (hint,hint)....

Regards, Neil (who can kiss up with the best of them when it serves his purposes)