Its called the 12 bar blues because its only 12 bars long. Most blues music utilizes a widely recognized form called 12bar form, aptly named because each musical phrase of the song is 12 bars measures long. The bass line itself is an essential part of this tune, so lets dive right into the intervals that make up the pattern. Each of these songs follows the 12bar blues pattern. The 12 bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues.
However, there are other variations such as 8 bars blues, 16 bar blues, and 32 bar blues. The traditional 12bar blues has a total of 12 bars or measures of the iivv chords that keep repeating in 12bar blocks over and over. The 2nd most famous blues chord progression is the quick change, also called quickfour. Easy guitar tabs guitar tabs songs music tabs easy guitar songs music theory guitar guitar sheet music music chords guitar chords pdf learn acoustic guitar. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c eb f gb g bb c. We now have our 3 chords to play in the key of a which is a, d and e. Name each of the notes of the triads using the lyric key using semibreves, create the 12bar blues chords in the bass clef insert a bass. For 20 years we provide a free and legal service for free sheet music. Most jazz standards are 32 bars long and so the blues form is less that a third of the length of a typical jazz standard. Learn how to play the above chord progression on a piano or guitar. The 12 bar form is the most basic and common type of blues form.
Two of the most common 12 bar patterns or arrangements are the slow change and the fast change. It also covers how to play a 12 bar blues in any key. The 12bar blues chord progression is in the treble clef on the score. The ray charles 12bar blues piano lick free online. Blues progressions are almost exclusively played in 44 time and dominated by the root i chord, with the iv and v chords providing that extra bit of flavor to keep things interesting. Chord variations may also be added for harmonic diversity.
The basic 12 bar blues progression can be played in any key and will use the i, iv, and v chords from that key. Blues piano tutorial chord progression 12 bar blues youtube. You have now quickly identified your second chord of the 12 bar blues in a which is the d chord. The chords are written as triads using minims on the 1st and 3rd beats of each bar. Learn 12 bars blues piano rhythm piano player world. This lesson will use dominant 7th, dominant 9th, and dominant th chords. In the key of c the chords would be c major f major and g major. The blues was first being sung by the slaves who where brought to america from africa. If you want to play the 12 bar blues chords in a different key, all you need to do is work out the distance between each note. How to play the blues on the piano or keyboard dummies. In the basic f blues, the 12 bars are only made up of 3 different chords. The last bar of the 12 bar blues is called a turnaround.
Lets learn the blues scales on piano and keyboard in every key. A fingering chart for violin sheet music by phil black sheet music plus violin chords. In the above example, the last 2 measures use a cadence referred to as a turnaround. These are constructed of a major triad as in the table below and then adding a minor 7th on the top 10 semitones. The most basic variation of the 12 bar blues is comprised of just 3 chords. Struggling to make 12 bar blues boogie sound awesome. To work out the final chord all you need to now do is count up 2 more notes from d which will take you to e this is your final chord.
The only 3 chords you need to master the blues on piano. Now that you know what the chords are, the way you can use them is endless. Other common blues progressions include the 8 bar, 16bar, and 24bar blues. It was their way to express sadness, distress and pain. A blues scale consists of 6 different notes, namely the root, flat 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, 5th and flat 7th of the major scale. Today i want to talk to you about the 12 bar blues. We have an official 12 bar blues tab made by ug professional guitarists. A repeating chord progression which is specific to 12 bar blues. See more ideas about 12 bar blues chords, learn guitar, guitar lessons. You also learned easy righthand patterns using three of the six tones in the blues scale f, eb and ab. Introduction in this lesson, you will learn about the chords used in the 12 bar blues chord progression. Sad story to tell everybodys got one 12bar ditties. I think were going to attempt to do this arrangement of somewhere over the rainbow and wonderful world as popularized by israel kamakawiwoole at the april 16 playalong.
It is usually in 44 4 crotchet beats per bar and uses 1 chord per bar with 12 bars in total thus the 12 bar blues. The 12bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues. This video teaches a little boogie woogie trick using the 3rd and 7th of a chord on the piano or keyboard. How to play 12 bar piano blues chords learn piano blues. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues and rock music that lasts for 12 bars. Other blues chord progressions such as 8 bar blues hope you enjoy these lessons. To help better understand the following example, i would recommend taking a read through the learning guitar scales and guitar chords posts. Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the c7, f7, and g7 chords. Below are some common dominant chords that will be used in this lesson. It is a structure which turns up again and again, in hundreds of songs, and by its definition, involves a lot of the same chords over and over perfect for spicing up. How to improvise with the 12bar blues making music magazine.
The chart below shows both the chords to play and the pattern to play them in. Students play duets with each other, one student playing a melody and the other accompanying with chords. You can watch the video below as i demonstrate and show you various left hand patterns and right hand improvisational progressions you can implement in using the blocked and broken major sixth. Playing the blues often comes down to a straight forward chord progression, which anyone can learn and play on the piano within minutes. For the sake of brevity, ill only look at playing blues in the key of c. Playing the 12 bar blues chord progression in the key of c 4. Its just a little filler to get you back to the five chord, at which point the progression repeats. Ray charles ray charles style 12 bar blues improv sheet. The 12bar blues is by far the most popular form for the blues. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues. Some songs may have several different patterns to give them a bit of variety, but the guts of the song will normally be based on a set chord pattern for every 12 bars of music. Although blues music has evolved over time, a fundamental chord progression called the 12 bar blues still lives on. As you can see, all other parts of the progression are exactly the same as the basic 12 bar blues.
Basic 12bar blues improv 26 harmony 001 28 past the basics two analogies and two pet peeves 31 some hints on jazz improvisation 32. That means that youll have three chords to keep in mind, the i chord e, the iv chord a, and the v chord b. There are other lengths, such as the 8bar blues but here we will be focusing on 12. Piano improvisation technique corcoran high school. This progression is made up of 12 measures and is based on the iivv chords of a key. The vast majority of contemporary blues music is based on what is termed a 12bar format. Many thanks see below for embedded slideshare of basic 12 bar blues in c. In order to learn about the 12 bar blues we first have to discuss the development of the blues.
Jul 27, 2016 12 bar blues ukulele chord progression in c. One place where it really works is in a 12 bar blues. Playing the 12 bar blues chord progression in all 12 keys 5. The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars thus the phrase 12bar blues that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords.
The 12bar blues has a chord sequence that repeats over and over, usually with different lyrics and perhaps some melodic variation, until you genuinely. How to play a simple walking bass left hand pattern on the. Blues music paved the way for many other genres of music we know and love. It is very similar to the basic 12 bar blues, with the only difference being the quick change to the iv chord in the 2nd measure. Its simple, fun, and can entertain everybody if done right. Its time to take it to the next step and learn to improvise with the 12. How to play 12 bar blues on the piano when it comes to jazz, the first thing you should learn is how to play the 12 bar blues. That is, the main body of a song follows a set pattern of chords over 12 bars of music that is repeated over and over. In the last blues lesson 12bar blues, you learned how to play the 12bar blues in the key of f, using simplified 2note chords.
The blues for free content learn jazz piano online. Take your time with it though, there are lots of technical elements involved, and mind the. A 12bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song. Improvise your own solo using the notes provided during the middle section.
To learn this kind of progression, you have to be familiar with all the piano chords, including major and minor. Print and download in pdf or midi 12 bar blues chord progression in c. How to play boogie woogie and 12 bar blues on the piano. The 12 bar blues piano rhythm is commonly used in blues and rock music that last for 12 bars. Once you learn to play the 12bar blues on the guitar, you can play such classic blues pieces as hound dog, stormy monday, kansas city, st. Blues music most times has a distinct sound and many recognize it by the wellknown 12bar blues progression. Two students played on my kawai, and the other two played on my keyboard which i set up in the guest bedroom. This is a 12 bar blues riff and is in triplets i do not take credit for this e. It is very common in blues music to add 7ths to the major chords giving that classic blues sound. The rhythm for 12 bar blues is measured in 4 beats. This 12 bar blues uses the repeatedchord technique which was a hallmark of the ray charles style. The bass line in this song is built around a 12 bar blues framework in the key of e.
The standard 12 bar blues is a iivv chord progression most typically divided into three four bar segments. Solo sku pso0010095 at our online store of digital music. In this theory tip tuesday video i show how to play a simple walking bass left hand pattern on the piano using a 12 bar blues progression. All in all, they have a total of 48 beats since each bar have 4 beats. Learn to play 12 bar blues boogie on your harmonica, the tab is below. Based on the i, iv and v chords of any key, the 12 bar blues is one of the most prominent chord progressions in modern music.
There are plenty of arrangements, based on chord progressions, to use. For example, if you are playing in the key of c you will notice that the f chord is the 4th note on the c scale, and the g chord is the 5th note. The 12 bar blues is the most common blues chord progression. Generally at the end of the song, instead of ending on the five chord, youll end on the root to give the song a sense of closure. Lessons for kids easiest way to learn the notes first piano lessons the easiest. The standard 12bar blues is a iivv chord progression most typically divided into three fourbar segments. Some of the most famous blues, boogie and rock n roll songs use this simple chord technique artists like jerry lee lewis, little richard, ray. Explanation of the 12 bar blues chord progression 3.