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 The
"12 Bar Blues" Chord Progression
(Click here
if you'd like to here an MP3 of Duane playing the 12-bar
blues.)
Far and away the most-used
chord progression of all time in the world of jazz and blues
and rhythm & blues (and even much of rock and fusion)
is the 12-bar blues chord progression.
The
12-bar blues is all-American. It developed right here,
and until the last few years, it's main musicians were right
here in the US. I had the privilege not long ago of
standing on the corner of Bourbon St. and listening to the
musicians in Preservation Hall play some of the most authentic
blues I've heard.
You
simply play 12 measures of the same chord progression over
and over, each time improvising some different melody on
top of those changes. And those changes are:
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The
12-Bar Blues Chord Progression
4
bars of the I chord
2
bars of the IV chord
2
bars of the I chord
1
bar of the V chord
1
bar of the IV chord
2
bars of the I chord
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The
7th is usually added to each chord -- so if the I chord
is F, you would usually play F7 -- that is kind of assumed
in the blues.
Start
by watching this 1-minute
video of me playing the
blues in the key of F at a moderately slow tempo. (Caution:
downloading the video(s) will take several minutes.)
Now watch the next
1-minute
video
while I explain the structure of the 12-bar blues.
As
you can see, the structure of the 12 bar blues is very simple.
And since it is fun, play it over and over again until you
get the sounds you want! The "melody"
of the 12-bar blues is something that each musician makes
up as he/she goes along. It is based on the blues
scale, which is a bit different than the regular diatonic
scale we all grew up with -- it includes all those "regular"
notes, but also uses the flat 3rd, the flat 5th, and the
flat 7th degrees of the scale.
Here is the blues scale in the key of C:
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The
"blues scale" is really a combination
of the major diatonic scale (the "regular" scale
we all grew up with) plus threeadditional
notes:
The
flatted 3rd
The
flatted 5th (or sharp 4th -- same thing)
The
flatted 7th
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So
the blues scale really contains 11 notes -- the 8 of the
normal diatonic scale -- and the 3 "blue notes."
These
are used in various combinations, as we shall see,
to create a "bluesy sound."
The blues started not
as a piano style, but as a vocal style, and of course the
human voice can sing "in the cracks" between the notes on
the keyboard. So when we play blues on the keyboard,
we try to imitate the human voice by playing BOTH the 3rd
and the flat 3rd -- BOTH the 5th and the flat 5th -- BOTH
the 7th and the flat 7th. We would play in the cracks if
we could, but we can't, so we do the best we can by combining
the intervals to imitate the quarter steps that a human
voice can sing. (Certain instruments can do that too
-- for example, the trombone. Since it has a slide, it can
hit an infinite number of tones between any two keyboard
notes.)
Later
we'll have a lesson on voicing the 12-bar blues, but for
now, just learn the form and practice it in all the keys.
For
a complete course in the 12 bar blues, be sure and get
"Playing
Blues, Boogie And Rhythm & Blues!" Great
course!
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