12 bar blues variations pdf

This lesson with chord charts and analysis contains 11 variations of the classic blues. So in this tutorial were gonna look at some very useful strumming patterns that youre gonna use again and again when you play the blues. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth. Use additional repertoire based on i v progressions to enhance students experience with one. So even though there is a kinda set 12 bar chord sequence, there are many variations of it that are commonly used.

So that makes it easy to know any blues song that is a 12 bar blues. There are two common variations of the 12 bar blues progression. With only 3 chords in a 12 bar blues, it has the power to move you. Once youve mastered the basic 12bar blues rhythm it is time to move onto using variations on the basic pattern, allowing you to improvise within the rhythm. See corresponding videos under lesson category in the blues tab. Its also a really fun way to jam with other musicians. You will learn how the basis theory of this pattern is created and this will get you started on the road to creating your own variations of these patterns and. As its name would suggest, it is made up of 12 bars or measures, which are laid out in a very specific order. We will be playing it in the key of g, so our chords are g, c and d. The most basic variation of the 12 bar blues is comprised of just 3 chords. The cadence or last four measures uniquely leads to the root by perfect intervals of fourths.

There are also variations such as minor key blues and the more elaborate jazz blues which well touch on later. Roman numerals indicate the quality of the chord i. In todays lesson, we are going to take an indepth look at how the form, or structure, of a blues chord progression is made. So its quite common, but this doesnt mean it should be boring at all. Each of these songs follows the 12bar blues pattern. Blues is undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of music to come out of america. A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a 12 bar. Download theory supplements, midi files, chord changes and full notefornote transcriptions of. This lesson covers the main variations on the chord sequence. Here is the blues chord progression in the key of c including the variations. Its distinctive structure is a framework for countless songs in almost every genre. Standard 12 bar blues forms and jazz blues chords the 12 bar blues is a musical form that has in. In the above examples, each chord was played with a very simple strumming pattern, without altering the chords or the rhythm.

The evolution of the 12 bar blues progression bob brozman. Spanns stomp follows the 12 bar form which we explored in the earlier lessons in this course and we are going to explore the tune in the key of c. Learning to play a 12 bar blues can open a world of music for your playing. There are many different sets of chord changes used in 12 bar blues. In this blues rhythm guitar lesson were gong to look at variations to the regular 12 bar blues shuffle riff. A quick change means that you go to the ivchord already in bar 2, the rest is just the same as the standard 12 bar blues. Nov 18, 2011 in this blues rhythm guitar lesson were gong to look at variations to the regular 12 bar blues shuffle riff. Its very very simple, just to explain how it works. Its important to have a solid vocabulary of chords, riffs and left hand tricks, but its just as important to have a strong rhythmic feel and some good right hand chops. Understand basic variations of both major and minor 12bar blues forms. A 12bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song. Its influence pops up in all styles of contemporary rhythm guitar, both in terms of its chord and form structure and in terms of its voicing.

Register on the site still free get pdf downloads for many lesson. Basic 12 bar blues in a the walking bass bass tabs. Examining the 12bar blues pattern if youve ever spent any time around a serious blues musician or music aficionado, youve probably heard the phrase 12 bar blues tossed about. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. 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. The twelvebar blues or blues changes is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. Expected response is that the blues is americas first homegrown musical genre teacher asks, where did the blues come.

Here is the blues in d backing track for you to practice with. Otherwise the last four measures is the blues turnaround, this with or without seventh chords is probably the most common form in modern blues rock. In this chapter were gonna take your blues playing to the next level, by adding the minor blues form and common 12 bar variations to your skill set. Before getting started with jazz blues tunes, its important to know the structure of the basic 12 bar blues. Its important to know, practice, and be able to play them all. Which you should have had down from the last lesson. There are many variations of the 12 bar blues pattern, but ive found its best to understand the simplest version of the pattern first. 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 turnaround occurs in the last two measures of a 12 bar progression and is often a critical element of the progression, so a solid understanding of the 12 bar format is needed. The 12 bar form is the most basic and common type of blues form. 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. Blues music paved the way for many other genres of music we know and love. Lets take a look into some of the ways to put some variation into this twelve bar progression. If you would like to see a specific video, please put a request in the comments box. Playing the 12 bar blues in a particular key is simply a matter of figuring out the i, iv and v of that key and then using those chords with the above form. There are three main forms in blues 12 bar blues which is what most people are familiar with, 8 bar blues and 16 bar blues less common. Standard twelvebar blues progressions variations, in c. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the i, iv, and v chords of a key. In its most basic form the 12 bar blues uses just three chords. Use a 12 bar blues song for the background or stamp the rhythm with your feet. We start with a classic 12 bar blues, 4 measures of i tonic, e.

Blues chord progressions 12, 8 and 16 bar examples. An even less commonly used form, but still good to know about. The power of the 12 bar blues however, is in the potential to use it as a starting point. Occasionally you might come across slight variations in the form or the harmonies, but if you start with this basic form, those little changes will be easy to pick up as you encounter them. Bass lessons basic 12 bar blues in a the walking bass bass tab blues basic 12 bar blues in a the walking bass by. The quick change introduces a bit more movement in the chord structure and is one of the more common 12 bar blues variations. There are many variations on this, but this is the one that underlies them all. There are many different 12 bar blues forms though. A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a 12 bar format. The 12bar blues is by far the most popular form for the blues. The most common form of the blues is a 12bar pattern of chord changes. Understanding the 12 bar blues form rock class 101.

Basically all you need to get started is to learn the 12 bar blues progression and the most commonly used lead pattern. Common variations of 12 bar blues chord progressions guitar. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues and rock music that lasts for 12 bars. Students can improvise by scatting syllables on the a c notes over 12 bar blues. Acoustic blues guitar lesson 12 bar blues variations.

The 12 bar blues progression is the foundation of the blues. The simplicity of blues is what draws people to it. How to play blues rhythm guitar like the blues masters. Once youve mastered the basic 12bar blues rhythm it is time to move onto using variations on the basic pattern, allowing you to improvise within the rhythm part. To get access to this lesson, join the pickup music community. Were also gonna look at alternative chord voicings like the jazzy 9 chord, the hendrixsounding thumb voicings and the sparse twonote voicings. Not quite the jazziest blues yet, but this one has many elements of it. Less common than 12 bar blues, the 8 bar blues form condenses the 1 4 5 sequence into. Jun 12, 2019 in the past ive introduced the 12bar jazzblues progression, which is a more musically sophisticated cousin of the simpler onefourfive blues chord changes that most people are familiar with and serves as a more harmonically ambitious framework that jazz musicians almost universally prefer to solo over and use as a vehicle for improvising rich, colorful melodies that allude to. The 12 bar blues and the minor blues scale online guitar. The 12 bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues. Colorful jazzblues chord substitutions guitar world.

A standard 12 bar blues that youll be able to use for years to come. The information in this lesson is essential to understand how the blues is constructed and how it is most commonly played. Chord variations may also be added for harmonic diversity. The 12 bar blues is a pretty simple chord progression. Later in the lessons well look at the many other variations. In jazz, twelve bar blues progressions are expanded with moving substitutions and chordal variations. The most common blues form is the 12bar blues consisting of the iivv progression. Thats the same chord sequence as above, but with c,f,g instead of a,d,e. Sep 14, 20 now that weve laid the foundation for a basic 12bar progression, lets explore ways to embellish it. Solo guitar blues licks and solos 12bar blues guitar.

Jan 07, 2019 the 12 bar blues is the most basic blues chord progression. The blues teachers guide playing the blues show, via overhead projector or handout, the notes in a blues scale. By the time we work through these variations, youll be able to negotiate everything from a simple blues to its jazzier adaptations. In the notation below, i notated a repeat sign to indicate the use of a turnaround. This shows 6 songs that all use a 12 bar blues style pattern and they are all of varying difficulty.

Once you learn to play the 12bar blues on the guitar, you can play such classic blues pieces as hound dog, stormy monday, kansas city, st. The blues is a musical form as much as it is a musical style or feeling. There are plenty of arrangements, based on chord progressions, to use. In the above example, the last 2 measures use a cadence referred to as a turnaround. Note that, in this blues form, chord changes can occur within the same bar, as indicated in the some of the variations below. Introduction to chicago blues chicago blues piano course. Lets start off with the most common blues progression. Although blues music has evolved over time, a fundamental chord progression called the 12. Common variations of 12 bar blues chord progressions. Its a standard 12 bar count em blues progression, which means that it uses the. The twelve bar progression is the backbone of the blues and it is the basis off thousands of bluessongs.

The previous lesson had some variations on c, but for a 12 bar blues there is another which works well, similar to the way we changed the a chord. Chunky c this just so happens to be done in the key of a but you can play this in any key you like by following the same pattern for the chosen key. The twelvebar blues or blues changes is one of the most prominent chord progressions in. In particular, the iivi cadence at the end of the form. Most blues chord progressions are 12 bars long, although there are also 14, 16, 24 or more bar blues changes. To play it, you change measure 2 from a i chord to a iv chord. This variant can be played with or without a turnaround. Countless songsin many stylesare based on this structure. Print and download in pdf or midi variation on 12 bar blues robert miller and sam collins. A common variant of the 12 bar blues is to use a quick change. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth. The 12 bar form the form of a song is the layout of the chords which chords you play, in relation to the key like i, iv, and v, and how long you play them. The vast majority of contemporary blues music is based on what is termed a 12 bar format. In the blues bass lessons so far, weve only used one common variation of the blues form.

However, there are other variations such as 8 bars blues, 16 bar blues, and 32 bar blues. Once youve mastered the basic 12 bar blues rhythm it is time to move onto using variations on the basic pattern, allowing you to improvise within the rhythm part. Most blues songs just repeat the 12 bar blues form over and over. Click here to download a printable pdf of this lessons notation. The progression uses the i, iv and v chords of the major scale. Now lets try something similar in a different key lets look at a 12 bar blues in c. Before we dive into the theory behind each of the 6 jazz blues progressions in this lesson, here are some characteristics of the blues most blues chord progressions are 12 bars long, although there are also 8, 14, 16, 24 or more bar blues changes. In this lesson were going to explore the harmonic and rhythmic structure of the blues. Blues is not only an exciting, popular and guitar friendly style of music, but a very influential style as well. This 12 bar blues lesson for beginners is divided in two parts, this is part 1. Jun 05, 2018 this colourful chart has some examples of common variations on the common 12 bar blues form. Most blues instrumental piano recordings lean more towards the boogiewoogie style in terms of tempo. A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a 12bar format. There are many different sets of chord changes used in 12bar blues.

The quick four is a variation on the 12bar blues with a different second bar. The most common form of the blues is a 12 bar pattern of chord changes. Although there are many variations, the basic 12 bar blues follows a particular pattern of the three chords. This is a good step in preparation for a real jazz blues, which will include several more chords. Instead of staying on the i chord for four measures, you play a iv chord for example, a in the key of e in the second measure for one bar, and go back to the i chord for two bars.

Bundle of 60 backing tracks and 12 pdf files with chord changes. Although blues music has evolved over time, a fundamental chord progression called the 12 bar blues still lives on. Most times songs will stick to a certain sequence that works best with the vibe or melody, so its worth knowing the most common variations. In the past ive introduced the 12 bar jazz blues progression, which is a more musically sophisticated cousin of the simpler onefourfive blues chord changes that most people are familiar with and serves as a more harmonically ambitious framework that jazz musicians almost universally prefer to solo over and use as a vehicle for improvising rich, colorful melodies that allude to. Today i want to talk to you about the 12 bar blues. To understand it better lets play something in the first minor pentatonic pattern, 12th fret.