12 Bar Blues Chords & Scales for Guitar | DS Music

1 12 Bar Blues Chords & Scales for GuitarThe 12 bar Blues is a 12 bar long chord progression that solo Blues musicians can easily improvise over the top of because the chord progression is familiar to them. This chord progression is based around the most important Chords in a key I, IV & V (1, 4 & 5) and is repeated over and over for the duration of the piece. It is usually in 4/4 (4 crotchet beats per bar) and uses 1 chord per bar with 12 bars in total - thus the 12 bar 12 bar Blues progression is as follows:It is very common in Blues Music to add 7ths to the major Chords giving that classic Blues sound. These are constructed of a major triad (as in the table below) and then adding a minor 7th on the top (10 semitones above the root forming dominant 7th Chords ). For example in C Major this would be: I I I IIV IV I IV IV I VChord I C E G BbChord IV F A C EbChord V G B D FTry playing the 12 bar Blues progression in C with just the major triads:44&&&VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVC44&&&VVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV44&&&V VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVNow try playing it in the same key, but with the 7th Chords so that you can hear the difference.

2 44&&&VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVV44&&&VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV44&&&VVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVP age Copyright 2014 DS MusicRMUSIC( chord I)C( chord I)C( chord I)C( chord I)F( chord IV)F( chord IV)C( chord I)C( chord I)G( chord V)F( chord IV)C( chord I)G( chord V)C7( chord I7)C7( chord I7)C7( chord I7)C7( chord I7)C7( chord I7)C7( chord I7)C7( chord I7)F7( chord IV7)F7( chord IV7)F7( chord IV7)G7( chord V7)G7( chord V7)In Blues Music you will hear a lot of syncopation (off beat) and swing rhythms. With swing rhythms you will have even note values (for example a group of quavers). You elongate the first note and then slightly accent the second (almost like a dotted rhythm, but not quite as strict or straight). It is like you are playing triplets (squeezing 3 beats in to theqaa z=[qp ]e11213141516171& & & & & & & & time of 2) You will see the marking for swing (sometimes along with the triplet equation), swing8ths , or swung or similar instructions at the start of the piece to indicate this.

3 A traditional way to accompany a 12 bar Blues is to use these swing rhythms (in this case swing 8ths) with alternating intervals of 5ths to 6ths which is called a shuffle . Swingqaa z=[qp ]e594444&(Repeat 12 bars as long as required) & & 3535373735353737353537373535373735353737 3535373535373735353737 3535373735353737353537373535373735353737 353537373535373735353737 5757595957575959353537373535373735353737 35353737373333333355775577 Here is an example in don t you have a go:Now you have the basic 12 bar Blues progression under your belt why don t you try having a go at improvising over the top. For this you would use the Blues scale . The Blues scale is very similar to the minor pentatonic scale , but with an additional lowered 5th note (lowered by half a step/semitone), or Blues note.

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