It is very common in blues music to add 7ths to the major chords giving that classic blues sound. Here we talk about the chords that make up a blues. In lesson 2 of this series, dj explained the most basic harmonic structure of the 12 bar blues. Tritone blues part 1 part 2 part 3 tritone blues part 4 kansas city blues in d the basics. For good examples take a listen to blues standards like sittin on top of the world or key to the highway. Most blues are played in 44 time or beat, that means you have four 4 quarter notes 14 notes per bar. In this easy piano lesson youll also get some tips on how to get started playing chord piano. This set of worksheets is designed to enable students to play a 12 bar blues piece taken from a music activity book.
As you can see, all other parts of the progression are exactly the same as the basic 12 bar blues. Other blues chord progressions such as 8 bar blues hope you enjoy these lessons. The standard 12bar blues progression has three chords in it the 1 chord, the 4 chord, and then the 5 chord. When you see a group of blues musicians play together, everyone magically seems to know. Before getting started with jazz blues tunes, its important to know the structure of the basic 12bar blues form. Most effective way of soloing over blues progressions. Slow blues is often played in 128 time, that means twelve 12 quavers or eighth notes, 18 per bar. Blues piano tutorial chord progression 12 bar blues youtube.
For the premier instalment of solo blues we are going to look at a 12 bar blues in the key of e. On this page, i not only supply you with an easy to read chart but a downloadable pdf copy for your desktop for easy reference. Mastery of the blues and rhythm changes are critical elements for building a jazz repertoire. Blues music most times has a distinct sound and many recognize it by the wellknown 12bar blues progression. Introduction in this lesson, you will learn about the chords used in the 12 bar blues chord progression. Each solo will emphasize different techniques, however the framework will be the same.
The 5 chord stays the same as it would in its major key. Blues progressions are almost exclusively played in 44 time and dominated by the root i chord, with the iv and v chords providing that extra bit of flavor to keep things interesting. How to play blues guitar chords, guitar tablature, 12bar blues. With only 3 chords in a 12 bar blues, it has the power to move you.
In this lesson we will take three different approaches to playing a blues solo in the key of e. Robert not only teaches you a cool solo but navigates you through each individual pentatonic shape and uses them all in the form of 27 different licks over 48 bars. This is probably the most popular of the blues forms other types include 8bar, 16bar, or something irregular and has a high degree of structure and predictability although never dull. Two of the most common 12 bar patterns or arrangements are the slow change and the fast change. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues and rock music that lasts for 12 bars. Has been used effectively with yr8 and yr9 students but could be simplified for yr7 if needed. Today since the 1930s, the 12bar blues is more or less the most played chord progression in the blues. So in the key of a the chord pattern looks like this. Since were doing it in the key of e the chords will be an the e chord, an a chord and a b7 chord. The intermediate 12bar blues riff blues guitar lessons.
The 12 bar blues is the most common blues chord progression. With that in mind, well be in the key of e blues through this entire series. In the first example i wrote out the entire 12 bar blues. But if you play only 9th chords over a slow 12 bar progression it may sound boring. This riff has the same structure as the basic 12bar blues riff weve already learned, but were going to add a few extra notes and some motion to it to make it a little more interesting.
That is, the main body of a song follows a set pattern of chords over 12 bars of music that is repeated over and over. Standard 12bar blues forms and jazz blues chords the 12bar blues is a musical form that has in. Blues rhythm 10 the 8 bar blues anyone can play guitar. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the i, iv, and v chords of a key. However, sometimes a dominant 7th 5 chord is used to create more tension before the return home to the minor tonic. Chord variations may also be added for harmonic diversity.
In all of these sequences chord i is a triad except on bar 4. From uke minutes 51 blues ukulele chords, you know that if you make the 1, 4, and 5 chords of any major key into. Some songs may have several different patterns to give them a bit of variety, but the guts of the song will normally be based on a set chord pattern for every 12 bars of music. Today since the 1930s, the 12 bar blues is more or less the most played chord progression in the blues. We will be playing it in the key of g, so our chords are g, c and d. While this does the job as far as creating that bluesy sound, there is a far more effective and expressive way of playing through blues changes. In the key of e it would be eroot, athe 4th and b the 5th.
For example, an a minor blues progression would typically be. The most common musical form of blues is the 12bar blues. These are constructed of a major triad as in the table below and then adding a minor 7th on the top 10 semitones. Like we mentioned before, a blues usually is 12 or 16 bars long. Adding to your already awesome arsenal of ukulele blues techniques, today we break down for you the basic format for a 12 bar blues progression. Having quick access to the information you need is a proven way to speed your progress. Blues guitar chords ukulele chords songs cool ukulele guitar chord chart lyrics and chords guitar songs ukulele tabs song lyrics rainbows i think were going to attempt to do this arrangement of somewhere over the rainbow and wonderful world as popularized by israel kamakawiwoole at. The first thing to do is to use the 12 bar quick change form, so we have c9 in the second bar, if we play it in the key of g. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth. In the key of e blues, the 1 chord is an e, the 4 chord is an a, and the 5 chord is. To help better understand the following example, i would recommend taking a read through the learning guitar scales and guitar chords posts. A good bar chord chart is one of the beginning guitarists best tools for his or her toolbox.
In its most basic form the 12 bar blues uses just three chords. In the end, you dont want to be able to only improvise guitar solos, but also develop the ability to improvise in your rhythm guitar playing. The blues has been adopted by many different styles of. Jul 04, 2019 today ill show you 8 different ways to play a 12 bar blues shuffle.
Sep 01, 2016 in example 1 below, a 12 bar blues progression is shown in the key of g, using open position dominant 7th chords, the type of chord typically associated with a bluesy sound. There are plenty of different ways to play the blues. In the other examples i just wrote out the alternatives to bar 1,2 and 9. Its important to understand that the 12 bar blues is a cycle and it is repeated many times during a performance. The vast majority of contemporary blues music is based on what is termed a 12bar format. There are plenty of arrangements, based on chord progressions, to use. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics. Each solo is more or less centered around a particular position.
The traditional 12 bar blues has a total of 12 bars or measures of the iivv chords that keep repeating in 12 bar blocks over and over. Lets have a look at the basic chord progression of the blues. More you dont need, the rest of the bars is played the same. Take your time with it though, there are lots of technical elements involved, and mind the. Blues guitar chords ukulele chords songs cool ukulele guitar chord chart lyrics and chords guitar songs ukulele tabs song lyrics rainbows i think were going to attempt to do this arrangement of somewhere over the rainbow and wonderful world as popularized by israel kamakawiwoole at the april 16 playalong. A 12 bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song.
The tradition of jazz is steeped in the blues and certainly evolved from this language. This lesson will use dominant 7th, dominant 9th, and dominant th chords. If you understand the concept of chord families we could number the chords as the one chord, the four chord and the five chord usually written i, iv and v. This piece is centered around the open position of the e blues scale. How to play blues guitar chords, guitar tablature, 12. Again, if youre playing in the key of c, the v chord is g7 and the v of g is d7, so instead of playing cfg7, play cd7g7 instead. The 12bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues. Since were still working with the standard 12bar blues progression, you should know the first four bars are over an e chord. Based on the i, iv and v chords of any key, the 12 bar blues is one of the most prominent chord progressions in modern music. From uke minutes 51 blues ukulele chords, you know that if you make the 1, 4, and 5 chords of any major key into 7th chords, youve got the basic chords for blues. In other words, we only change the 1 and 4 chords to minor. Other common blues progressions include the 8 bar, 16 bar, and 24 bar blues.
This progression is made up of 12 measures and is based on the iivv chords of a key. What are some chord substitutions for a iivv blues. Like the name says, the 12 bar blues has 12 bars with in its most basic form 3 chords. The 12bar blues form basic a typical starting point for studying the blues is the 12bar format. Soloing over blues progressions a more effective approach most guitarists are taught to play minor pentatonic or the flat 5 blues scale when soloing over a 1 4 5 blues progression. It is usually in 44 4 crotchet beats per bar and uses 1 chord per bar with 12 bars in total thus the 12 bar blues. Heres a free printable piano chords chart pdf for beginners. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. However, the lesson come with mp3s, tab in pdf format as well as. The simplicity of blues is what draws people to it. In the early stage of blues music there were no guitar solos or even instrumentals, it was a vocal music. Blues rhythm 10 the 8 bar blues there is life beyond the 12 bar, and in this lesson i look at a common alternative blues form the 8 bar blues. The 12 bar blues progression is one of the most used in popular music, so even if your not a big fan of the blues it is a good idea to try and understand what a 12 bar blues progression is. The blues is one of the most common forms in jazz music and is essential to know for a competent jazz musician.
This time around, youll learn some new ways to vary the harmony within the blues form. Playing the 12 bar blues chord progression in all 12 keys 5. This image demonstrates how you would find the i, iv, and v chords in the key of a using the a major scale. Blues chord progressions 12, 8 and 16 bar examples. Easy 12 bar blues 48 bar solo this is no doubt one of the best solos ive come across for a beginner to learn from.
Easy guitar tutorial 12 bar blues in ethe 12 bar blues is a very common pattern and an important one for guitar players to learn. We could replace the 12 bar blues chords with jazz chords or compose rock riffs. He, amongst others, had a great influence on the standardization of the 12 bar blues. In example 1 below, a 12 bar blues progression is shown in the key of g, using open position dominant 7th chords, the type of chord typically associated with a bluesy sound. Blues music most times has a distinct sound and many recognize it by the wellknown 12 bar blues progression. There are also songs based on 8bar, 16bar and 24bar patterns. Like the name says, the 12bar blues has 12 bars with in its most basic form 3 chords. Playing the 12 bar blues chord progression in the key of c 4. Today ill show you 8 different ways to play a 12 bar blues shuffle. Adding to your already awesome arsenal of ukulele blues techniques, today we break down for you the basic format for a 12bar blues progression.
A 12bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song. To get the blues chord progression for the blues in a, we take the i, iv, and v chords from the key of a. Finally, once you have grasped the essentials of lick analysis, begin your own investigations. The 2nd most famous blues chord progression is the quick change, also called quickfour. The change in quick change blues, happens in bar 2. In the above example, the last 2 measures use a cadence referred to as a turnaround. Blues shuffles sound really cool and the basic ones are not that hard to play. Well stick to the 12bar forms here because, as i mentioned earlier, these are the ones you will most often hear played by blues musicians. The e blues scale is made up of the same notes as the e minor pentatonic with the addition of the flat 5th in this case the bb note. Apr 01, 2020 blues music most times has a distinct sound and many recognize it by the wellknown 12 bar blues progression. It is not only the basic structure for blues, but is also used extensively in rock, country, jazz and pop music.
In its most basic form, it contains just the i, the iv and the v chords of the given key. Jun 05, 2018 this colourful chart has some examples of common variations on the common 12 bar blues form. The basic blues progression uses 3 chords the tonic i or the chord that the song is centered on, the dominant v or the chord based on the fifth step of the tonic scale, and the subdominant iv or the chord based on the fourth step of the tonic scale. The blues has been adopted by many different styles of music, such as rock, country and of course. In jazz blues sequences the tonic chord can be a major 7, however this is rare in real blues where chord i is either a triad, a dominant 7th chord or a 6th chord the added note is used for colour rather than harmonic function as mentioned above, except on bar 4 where it is nearly always a. As most electric slow blues tunes it uses 9th chords instead of 7th chords the first example of a common chord substitution. Understanding the 12 bar blues form rock class 101. Below are some common dominant chords that will be used in this lesson. It is very similar to the basic 12 bar blues, with the only difference being the quick change to the iv chord in the 2nd measure. The 12 bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues. The last four bars are a bar on the v chord and a bar on the iv chord then, finally, two bars on the i chord. Should you need to know how to read tabs click here read me all tabs are standard tuning. While this does the job as far as creating that bluesy sound, there is a far more. The first sheet includes the chords, second a variety of bass lines, and finally a lyric writing sheet.
Oct 15, 20 the blues is one of the most common forms in jazz music and is essential to know for a competent jazz musician. Once you can play a closed using barre chords 12 bar blues shuffle rhythm you. This colourful chart has some examples of common variations on the common 12 bar blues form. In the key of e blues, the 1 chord is an e, the 4 chord is an a, and the 5 chord is a b. The standard 12 bar blues is a iivv chord progression most typically divided into three four bar segments. Take your time and learn the chord forms before trying to apply the rhythms to them.
Looking at various variations to the regular 12 bar blues shuffle is the first step to send you down that path. Plug in the chords of any key and you have the chords for a 12 bar blues. The twelvebar blues or blues changes is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The chords most commonly played over these 12 bars of music are the first, fourth and fifth chords of the key that the song is written in. Before getting started with jazz blues tunes, its important to know the. Entire songs have been written around this idea salty dog comes to mind. In todays lesson, we are going to take an indepth look at how the form, or structure, of a blues chord progression is made. Blues is undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of music to come out of america. If its blues in g, the first measure will be a g chord.
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