Blues music, the wellspring of countless modern genres, holds a captivating allure for guitarists. Understanding the fundamental structure of blues not only opens doors to a rich musical tradition but also provides a solid foundation for exploring diverse musical styles and jamming with fellow musicians.
This article kicks off a series designed to guide beginner guitarists through the essential elements of playing blues guitar. Assuming no prior knowledge of guitar chords and scales, we’ll break down concepts in a straightforward manner. The aim is to equip you with the basic tools to start playing blues and confidently participate in this timeless musical form.
Decoding the Blues Chord Progression
We begin our journey by focusing on the cornerstone of blues music: the 12-bar blues chord progression. This progression serves as the bedrock for virtually everything in blues, making it the perfect starting point.
The blues progression is a sequence of three chords that spans 12 measures, or bars. A measure is simply a unit of musical time, typically containing 4 beats in blues. The specific chords used in the progression depend on the key of the song.
Most blues songs are built upon the repetitive cycle of the blues progression. This progression loops continuously, providing the harmonic backdrop for vocals, guitar solos, and instrumental improvisation.
Let’s examine the classic 12-bar blues progression in the key of E:
12 bar blues chord progression in E chart. Learn blue guitar chords with this easy to follow diagram showing the E7, A7, and B7 chord sequence.
As you can see, it utilizes just three chords: E7, A7, and B7. These are Dominant 7th Chords, recognizable by the “7” in their name. Dominant 7th chords possess a distinctive, slightly edgy and vibrant sound that is characteristic of blues music. While other chord types can be used, dominant 7th chords are a staple in the blues progression. For those unfamiliar with these chords, here are common and beginner-friendly ways to play them: (Diagrams of E7, A7, B7 chord shapes would typically be here in a real article, but are omitted as per instructions)
To play through this progression, you simply need a 4-beat strumming pattern. Apply this pattern to each measure, following the chord sequence. The rhythmic possibilities are vast, allowing for endless strumming variations within this structure.
Transposing the Progression to Other Keys
Understanding how the blues progression works in keys beyond E is crucial. To do this, we need to grasp some basic music theory.
In any musical key, there’s a set of seven core chords that naturally harmonize within that key. Music theorists use Roman numerals (I through vii) to label these chords. The blues progression primarily uses the I, IV, and V chords of a given key. In the key of E, the I chord is E7, the IV chord is A7, and the V chord is B7. Notice that the I chord always shares the same root note as the key itself (E in the key of E).
The IV and V chords maintain a consistent relationship to the I chord, a relationship easily visualized on the guitar fretboard. If you locate the root note of your I chord on the 6th string, the root notes for the IV and V chords will always be positioned in the same relative locations:
Diagram showing the location of I, IV, and V blue guitar chords root notes on the fretboard. This helps guitarists easily find related chords in any key.
This technique requires familiarity with the notes on the 6th and 5th strings of your guitar – a valuable skill for any guitarist, especially beginners. Here’s a fretboard diagram for reference: (Diagram of 6th and 5th string notes would be here)
Once you’re comfortable with the notes, finding the IV and V chords becomes straightforward. Locate the root of your I chord on the 6th string, and the roots for IV and V will be directly beneath it as illustrated. For instance, in the key of E, the root note E is on the open 6th string. The A note (IV) is directly below on the open 5th string. B (V) is just two frets higher than A on the 5th string. After identifying these root notes, simply convert them into Dominant 7th Chords (E7, A7, B7 in this example), and you’re ready to play the blues progression in E.
Fretboard diagram highlighting the E, A, and B notes, essential root notes for blue guitar chords in the key of E and the 12 bar blues progression.
Let’s take another example – the blues progression in G. First, find the root note of our I chord, G, on the 6th string (3rd fret). Knowing the IV root is on the same fret, one string down, we find C. Moving up two frets from C on the 5th string brings us to D, the root of the V chord.
So, in the key of G, the root notes are I=G, IV=C, and V=D. Turning these into Dominant 7th Chords gives us G7, C7, and D7.
Chord diagrams for G7, C7, and D7 blue guitar chords. These are essential for playing the 12 bar blues progression in the key of G.
Now, let’s arrange these chords into the 12-bar progression. Recalling the structure from the key of E, we can represent it using Roman numerals:
This numerical formula works for any key. Substituting our G7, C7, and D7 chords into this formula gives us the 12-bar blues progression in G:
12 bar blues chord progression in G chart. This diagram shows how to apply G7, C7, and D7 blue guitar chords to the standard blues structure.
And there you have it – the 12-bar blues in G! You can now determine the progression in any key by following these steps:
- Locate the root of your I chord on the 6th string.
- Find the roots of IV and V based on the position of the I chord root.
- Convert these root notes into Dominant 7th chords and learn their fingerings if needed.
- Apply these three chords to the standard 12-bar blues progression formula.
Exploring Common Blues Progression Variations
While the standard 12-bar blues progression is fundamental, blues music is full of subtle variations. Within a single blues song, the progression usually remains consistent throughout. However, across different songs, you’ll encounter common alterations. Here are a few prevalent variations:
A simplified version omits the IV chord in the 10th measure, replacing it with another measure of the V chord. Additionally, the V chord in the final 12th measure is replaced by the I chord. This streamlined progression is often heard in faster blues-rock styles. The structure is:
The ‘quick change’ is another common variation, introducing the IV chord in the 2nd measure for a faster harmonic shift:
12 bar blues chord progression with the quick change variation highlighted. This chart demonstrates how to incorporate a faster chord change using blue guitar chords.
Finally, some variations add more harmonic movement in the last two measures. In the 11th measure, the I chord is played for the first two beats, followed by the IV chord for the last two beats. Then, in the 12th measure, the I chord occupies the first two beats, and the V chord concludes the measure. This richer variation is particularly common in slower blues pieces and can be combined with or without the ‘quick change’ in the 2nd measure:
This concludes our exploration of the blues progression and its variations. In the next installment of this series, we will delve into the blues scale, examining its most common patterns and how to navigate it across the guitar neck for playing in different keys. Subsequent articles will cover topics such as turnarounds, riffs to substitute for chords within the blues progression, and essential blues standards.
SRV Photo credit: Joe Bielawa / Foter / CC BY
