The
12 bar blues is a basic progression which uses the 1, 4 and 5 chords of a specific scale. So for the key of A -
So, for the 12 bar blues in A, we'd use
A (the 1, tonic or Key), the D (4) and the E (5). There are many different ways to put these chords, but a popular way is
below
This is a movable progression - so if you wanted to play the 12 bar in a different key, such as the
key of G, you'd use the same method
G A B C D E F#
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
So in the key of G - the 1 would be G, the 4 would be C and
the 5 would be D. You can substitute the chords from the progression above with these chords.
Boogie Woogie Blues
The
boogie woogie blues is basically just a bass line that is used heavily as a guitar line. Understanding this basic form will
allow us to move to more and more complex blues riffs and songs. Below are the basic riffs for this type of blues, basically,
you can substitute the riffs below for the chords in the pattern above.
A
E--5-------------------------------||
A-----4--7------------7--4-------||
D-----------4--5--4--------------||
G----------------------------------||
B----------------------------------||
e----------------------------------||
D
E---------------------------------||
A-5-------------------------------||
D----4--7------------7--4-------||
G-----------4--5--4--------------||
B----------------------------------||
e----------------------------------||
E
E---------------------------------||
A--7-----------------------------||
D------6--9-------------9--6--||
G-------------6--7--6----------||
B--------------------------------||
e--------------------------------||
For now, continue to practice this stuff
- I will try to add more next week if not sooner. Happy practicing!
