Welcome to my TWELVE BAR BLUES FOR BEGINNERS Series. Did you know that you can play thousands of songs with just one super easy chord progression? The twelve bar blues is one of the most famous song forms in all of popular music and has been used as the foundation to write hit songs by Elvis, Led Zeppelin, John Mayer, Chuck Berry, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis to name a few.
Every guitar player must know this progression and be able to play it in several keys! Join me as I break down these legendary changes and show you what The Blues is all about! Let’s do this!
In this lesson you will learn:
Twelve Bar Blues For Beginners Video Concepts
1. Where the Twelve Bar Blues came from.
2. What chords make up the form.
3. How to play a blues rock shuffle.
4. How to transpose the Twelve Bar Blues to different keys.
Chapters
Where the Twelve Bar Blues came from.
What chords make up the form.
How to play a blues rock shuffle.
How to transpose the Twelve Bar Blues to different keys.
Action Steps
Step 1. The Blues was an oral tradition up until the 19th century. People would pass down songs, improvise and change the music constantly. The “Father Of The Blues”, W.C. Handy was the first to write down music in the blues form with his song “Memphis Blues”. You can hear his song here.
Step 2. The Twelve Bar Blues is made up of the I, IV, and V chord of any particular key. You can learn more about what chords/notes belong in what key here.
Step 3. The I, IV, V chords sound great but can be a little more interesting with this rock shuffle arrangement. Be sure to learn this arrangement as every guitar player should be able to pull this out and play it.
As a guitarist you might be caught in a situation where a Twelve Bar Blues is called and you want to be able to play along!
Enjoy the lesson and Happy Playing!