12-bar blues

In its most basic form, it's a chord progression that lasts twelve bars, with three four bar lines. The chords are all dominant 7ths, and they are the I, IV and V of the key. That would be A7, D7 and E7 in the key of A. * When you add a shuffle rhythm, there is no argument – this is the most common blues form.

12 bar blues simply describes the number of bars or measures that a chord progression is mapped out over.

What is the blues? The blues is a form of secular folk music created by African Americans in the early 20th century, originally in the South. Although instrumental accompaniment is almost universal in the blues, the blues is essentially a vocal form.

Handy claimed to have noticed a repetitive chord sequence in the plantation song that inspired him. The chord pattern that Handy noted down is a succession of primary chords in a specific order. It is now known as 12-bar blues and it is a structure understood by all jazz and popular musicians.

A really important skill in playing blues is being able to play your 12 Bar Blues rhythm shuffle in any key. Once you can play a closed (using barre chords) 12 Bar Blues shuffle rhythm you will be able to play it in any key when you have finished this lesson and done a little practice.

Handy claimed to have noticed a repetitive chord sequence in the plantation song that inspired him. The chord pattern that Handy noted down is a succession of primary chords in a specific order. It is now known as 12-bar blues and it is a structure understood by all jazz and popular musicians.

In whatever key you are in, 12-bar blues uses the same basic sequence of I, IV, and V chords. It is most easily thought of as three 4-bar sections – the first 4, the middle 4, and the last 4 bars. The first 4 bars just use the I chord - I, I, I, I. The middle 4 bars go IV, IV, I, I.

“The blues style represents . . . a saying of things that are very painful, deep and poignant, with a feeling of ease. In the very best blues the pain changes, because of the music, into something light.”

depressed or sad Be depressed or sad, as in I was really feeling blue after she told me she was leaving. The use of blue to mean “sad” dates from the late 1300s. See also blue funk, def. 2; have the blues.

Blues progressions can all be understood as outgrowths from a basic prototype. The 12-bar blues progression is composed of three phrases, typically four bars each. A major difference between the blues and more traditionally tonal music is that it emphasizes plagal cadences instead of authentic cadences .

Associated with the Blues genre, which originated in the early 1900s, the 12-bar blues progression was also popular during the Swing Era of the 1930s and 1940s, (examples include “In The Mood” and “One O'Clock Jump”), as well as during the early years of Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s (“Johnny B.

The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the I, IV, and V chords of a key.