Most commonly a progression of 1st, 4th and 5th chords is used in the 12 bar blues. Let us say that you are using the key C.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C D E F G A B
1 = C the tonic chord
4 = F the subdominant chord
5 = G the dominant chord
These three chords can be major, minor or seventh chords depending upon the music you have selected.
For a blues in C, the chords C, F and G are played.
Let us consider 12 bar blues in C
The first four bars section comprises of four 1st chords
C///C///C///C///
The / represents the beat indicating that each chord is played once for every beat.
The second four bar section comprises of two 4th chords of followed by two 1st chords.
F///F///C///C///
The third four bar section comprises of one bar of the 5th chord, one bar of the 4th chord, one bar of the 1st chord and one bar of the 5th chord.
G///F///C///G///
When played in full the 12 bar blues in C is as follows
C///C///C///C///
F///F///C///C///
G///F///C///G///
You will be playing four bars of the 1st chord, followed by two bars of the 4th chord, then another two bars of the 1st chord, one 5th chord, one 4th chord, one 1st chord and one 5th chord.
The dominant seventh chord can be used instead for all the chords.
C7///C7///C7///C7///
F7///F7///C7///C7///
G7///F7///C7///G7///
At first you should play the 12 bar blues slowly, until you can play it without confusion. Each bar has to have four beats and must have a steady rhythm. The 12 bar blues are used in jazz, country and rock music, so if you have any ambition to play well, learning the 12 bar blues is a must. If you learn the progression you will be able to play it rather easily as it involves only three chords. Once you have perfected the 12 bar blues you can play with other musicians without much difficulty.
You can try out variations such as placing emphasis on the 2nd and 4th beat of each bar giving your music a rock twist. These are a few tips to help you understand the basics of the 12 bar blues. If you are still in doubt you can consult a qualified professional to give you lessons and help you out. There are many websites that provide useful information lending a hand to novices who need help.
Once you have understood the basics you can try out various combinations and have a great time experimenting with your guitar. Learning can be fun and enjoyable once you understand the lessons. Be diligent, practice hard and persevere, and soon you will be playing the 12 bar blues without any uncertainty or doubt.
How To Play The Blues Guitar
Playing the blues, music is something that many guitarists aspire to do. Some it comes to easily whereas others find it more difficult. Another thing about the blues music is you either love it or hate it. By the looks of how popular it is, one would have to say that those who hate it are in the minority.
One of the greatest if not the greatest blues singers was B.B.King. Many novices to the guitar marvel at how well he plays them and just how it's done. To do so you need to learn the 12 bar blues. Don't give up yet with some perseverance and practice you will master the blues as well.
Have you ever been listening to the blues and just know it reminds you of something? Well it may well do so if you remember the African American slaves from down south. It stems from their local traditions of how they would call out and respond to each other. The majority of blues songs is simply based on this and mimics those sounds. It is the progressive scale.
If you have been following the history of blues music then you have heard the name W.C.Handy. By using the 12 bar blues he was able to produce the very first certifiable blue hit. This is going back some years naturally, since blues has been around for a long time. We're talking back to the introduction of the “St. Louis Blues” back in 1914.
Interestingly enough at that time the blues wasn't all that well received it was just ok in the opinion of most. It slowly caught on and almost seemed to have an infectious affect to it.It didn't matter what the ethnic group was it was being accepted. It really was the African American artist that brought the blues to the forefront. Artists such as Billie Holiday played a big part in this roll. By this time, it was well in the 1930's. As the 20th century grew to a close, B.B.King added a unique touch to the Blues. Being a lead guitar player, he would bring a different touch to the music with his 12 bars blues techniques. From this point on there was no looking back or cooling off for the blues. It has just continued to grow into popularity, as it is known today.
It revolutionized the aspects of guitar playing. The 12 bars blues is now a commonplace and basic way of the guitar. Anyone aspiring to be good guitar player must learn the essential cord progression.
One of the best ways to learn this technique is through iVideosongs. Here is where you will start the beginning of learning the 12 bar blues, and then by taking what you learn here and making it a practice you will soon be surprised and pleased at how adept you will become.
It just seems to be natural to begin to learn how to play the 12 bar blues the moment one becomes serious about learning to play the guitar. Perhaps because rock includes the 12 bar blues this is the reason.
The first thing you are going to learn is that in order to learn the blues you are going to learn three bars that follow each other in succession.
The first measure is learning how to play a chord. If you are familiar with Presley's some Hound Dog then you already know what a cord is. Don't even think about moving onto the next step until you have this one down perfectly.
Now moving onto the second measure does not mean you will not be continuing in the 4/4 time meaning each quarter measure is one beat. The difference here is that in the first measure you were playing in “A” now you will be playing in “D” chord. Once again, become really familiar and comfortable at this measure then get ready to move onto the third and final measure.
Finally, you are here on your last measure and guess what? It's no different from your first two except now you are going to be playing in “E” chord. That really wasn't so hard was it? Now it means hours of practice and application to really master these 3 measures to make up the 12 bar blues.
Both Logan N Young & Zack Roberts are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Logan N Young has sinced written about articles on various topics from Guide Guitar. To discover how to unleash your inner guitar god by getting professional , then be sure to check out:. Logan N Young's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
Zack Roberts has sinced written about articles on various topics from Guide Guitar, Keyboard Synthesizer and Guide Guitar. Download 80 of the best 12 bar blues backing tracks now: Click on the link below: Get access to the best. Zack Roberts's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.
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