12 Bar Blues Progressions And Variations

 

The blues is a musical form as much as it is a musical style or feeling. The most common blues    form is the 12-bar blues consisting of the I–IV–V progression. The progression below is a blues in the key of G. It consists of twelve measures, or bars, and the chords within this blues form             are the I (G7), IV (C7), and V (D7) chords in the key of G. This would be an example of a “quick change,” because after the first bar of the I chord (G7), the harmony shifts immediately to the IV chord (C7). The last two bars are known as the “turnaround” because chordally, it turns you around to the I chord at the top of the progression.

 

There are many many different sets of blues progressions, going from the basic original blues to the more modern variations. The foundation however stays the 12 bar blues with a set of 3 chord changes.

Here are some characteristics of the blues:

• Most blues chord progressions are 12 bars long, although there are also 14, 16, 24 or more bar blues changes.  There are many different 12 bar blues forms though.
• The tonic chord of a blues is a dominant 7 chord, a fact that doesn't fit very well in traditional music theory.
• The blues is not only about chord changes and scales, but is also about a certain sound, a feeling.
  Responsible for that sound are the blue notes:  a lowered 3rd note and a lowered 5th note.
• The 3 basic chords of a blues are all dominant 7 chords.

Here's a list of possible sets of blues chord changes:

Basic Blues	F7
	Bb7		F7
	C7	Bb7	F7
1930s evolution	F7	Bb7	F7
	Bb7		F7
	G7	C7	F7	C7
Count Basie Blues Changes	F7	Bb7    Bdim	F7	Cm7    F7
	Bb7	Bdim	F7	D7
	Gm7	C7	F7
Bebop Changes	F7	Bb7	F7	Cm7    F7
	Bb7	Bdim	F7	Am7    D7
	Gm7	C7	Am7    D7	Gm7    C7
Tritone Substitution	F7	Bb7	F7	Cm7    F7
	Bb7	Bm7    E7	F7    E7	Eb7    D7
	Gm7	C7    Bb7	Am7    D7	Gm7    C7
Charlie Parker Blues	Fmaj7	Em7b5   A7b9	Dm7    Db7	Cm7    F7
	Bb7	Bbm7    Eb7	Am7    D7	Abm7    Db7
	Gm7	C7	F    D7	Gm7    C7

HOW TO SING THE BLUES

Most blues begin "woke up this morning."
"I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line:
I got a good woman-- "with the meanest dog in town".

Blues are simple. After you have the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes. Sort of:
Got a good woman with the meanest dog in town. He got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and he weighs about 500 pounds.

The blues are not about limitless choice.
Blues cars are Chevies and Cadillacs. Other acceptable blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

Teenagers can't sing the blues. Adults sing the blues. Blues adulthood means old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

You can have the blues in New York City, but not in Brooklyn or Queens. Hard times in Vermont or North Dakota are just a depression. Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City are still the best places to have the blues.

 
The following colors do not belong in the blues:
violet
beige
mauve
You can't have the blues in an office or a shopping mall, the lighting is wrong.

Good places for the blues:
the highway
the jailhouse
the empty bed

Bad places:
Ashrams
Gallery openings
weekend in the Hamptons

No one will believe it's the blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be an old black man.

Do you have the right to sing the blues?
Yes, if:
your first name is a southern state--like Georgia
you're blind
you shot a man in Memphis.
you can't be satisfied.

No, if:
you were once blind but now can see.
you're deaf
you have a trust fund.

Neither Julio Iglesias nor Barbra Streisand can sing the blues.

If you ask for water and baby gives you gasoline, it's the blues.
Other blues beverages are:
wine
Irish whiskey
muddy water

Blues beverages are NOT:
Any mixed drink
Any wine kosher for Passover
Yoo Hoo (all flavors)

If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is a blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, or being denied treatment in an emergency room. It is not a blues death, if you die during a liposuction treatment.

Some blues names for women:
Sadie
Big Mama
Bessie

Some blues names for men:
Joe
Willie
Little Willie
Lightning
Persons with names like Sierra or Sequoia will not be permitted to sing the blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

Other blues names (Starter Kit):
Name of Physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Asthmatic)
First name (see above) or name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi)
Last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
Mix and match.

 

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tom@newjerseyguitarlessons.com