Twelve bar Blues lesson

This lesson will focus on the twelve bar blues and it's most common variations, of which there are many. As chord progressions go, the twelve bar blues would have to be the most popular progression on planet Earth, and can be found in some of the music industries most popular songs including Mustang Sally (Mack Rice, Wilson Pickett), Should I stay or should I go (The Clash), Hound Dog (Elvis), Led Zeppelin's Rock & Roll and SRV's Mary had a little lamb to name a few. So let's get straight into it!

Contents

Twelve bar Blues explained

If you wish to be a musician, learning the twelve bar blues is simply a must, and every musician will expect you to know at least one or more variations. First, let's get some basic concepts out of the way; the twelve bar blues is a set number of bars (12) and is the same for each variation, any chord progression with less or more that twelve bars is not a twelve bar blues (but perhaps an 8-bar Blues, etc). Another common trait is the types of chords, at the very least it must have the I, IV & V chords which may or may not be the quality of a dominant seventh. A minor twelve bar blues is the same I, IV & V chord concept, except that the I and IV chords are minor, the V is usually a dominant seventh.

So now we know that basic concepts of the twelve bar blues, let's begin to learn the practical side by having a look at the tablature/notation below. The example twelve bar blues below can be played either using the riff, which is another standard blues/rock line, or you may simply play the chords. I would suggest learning the chord changes first and then attempt the riff. So looking at the chords, they are all dominant seventh as I personally like this take on the twelve bar blues, but you could play the A⁷ and D⁷ as plain major chords and leave the G⁷ as is (we will look at variations in the next part of this lesson). Following the chord changes below is pretty easy but if you are having trouble then listen to the audio example below the chart, and if you need to learn chord shapes then have a look at the dominant seventh chord voicings.

Moving onto the riff, use your first finger to fret the fourth string on the second fret, then your third finger on the fourth fret, then your fourth finger on the fifth fret. This riff is simply repeated on the third and fourth strings for the D⁷, then on the fifth and sixth strings for the E⁷. The final bar which is an E⁷, is whats called a turnaround (normally you would stay on the A⁷), turnarounds can be in the form of chords and/or riffs but in this lesson it's a simple eighth note rest followed by an eighth note rhythm on the E power chord, but you could play the full E⁷.

12 Bar Blues with turnaround

Twelve bar Blues variations

If you haven't guessed already, the twelve bar blues comes in many different flavors, and below I will take you through the most common variations. Just remember, to be called a twelve bar blues all we really need is 12 bars, the I, IV & V chords and a general outline of chord changes, there are all sorts of things that can be put in between.

The chord charts below show each 12 Bar Blues in Roman numerals, and chords in the key of C, so don't confuse or add them together. As the help image below shows, they are written similar to normal music in that you count four bars and the skip to the next line and each bar has one chord.

Twelve Bar Blues

This is the standard twelve bar blues with only the V chord being dominant, you need to know these chord changes inside out.

12 Bar Blues
Roman numerals				Key of C
I	I	I	I	C	C	C	C
IV	IV	I	I	F	F	C	C
V7	IV	I	I	G7	F	C	C

Twelve bar Blues using all dominant chords

This variation has all of the chords as dominant, certainly intensifies the whole progression, particularly good for slow blues.

12 Bar Blues: all dominant
Roman numerals				Key of C
I7	I7	I7	I7	C7	C7	C7	C7
IV7	IV7	I7	I7	F7	F7	C7	C7
V7	IV7	I7	I7	G7	F7	C7	C7

12 Bar Blues using selective dominant chords

This is one of my personal favorites, just love the change to dominant on bars four and eight, another good one for slow blues.

12 Bar Blues: selective dominant
Roman numerals				Key of C
I	IV	I	I7	C	F	C	C7
IV	IV7	I	I7	F	F7	C	C7
V7	IV	I	V7	G7	F	C	G7

12 Bar Blues with a turnaround

Technically, the last bar should stay on the I chord so when it changes to a V chord it’s called a turnaround. I usually play it this way as standard but that’s because I mainly play Blues. If you are playing rock or pop then leaving the last bar as the I chord would be best.

12 Bar Blues with a turnaround
Roman numerals				Key of C
I	I	I	I	C	C	C	C
IV	IV	I	I	F	F	C	C
V7	IV	I	V7	G7	F	C	G7

Quick change 12 bar Blues

Also known as Quick to four or Quick four, the second bar is played using the IV chord, hence the name, and is particularly good for a fast Blues shuffle.

Quick change 12 Bar Blues
Roman numerals				Key of C
I	IV7	I	I	C	F7	C	C
IV	IV	I	I	F	F	C	C
V7	IV	I	V7	G7	F	C	G7

10^th Bar dominant Blues

This variation skips on the change to the IV chord in bar ten and stays on the V chord, good for most styles but especially rock and pop.

10th Bar dominant Blues
Roman numerals				Key of C
I	I	I	I	C	C	C	C
IV	IV	I	I	F	F	C	C
V7	V7	I	I	G7	G7	C	C

4^th Bar dominant Blues

This one changes on bar four to dominant (I⁷) and adds a nice flavor to the standard twelve bar blues.

4th Bar dominant Blues
Roman numerals				Key of C
I	I	I	I7	C	C	C	C7
IV	IV	I	I	F	F	C	C
V7	IV	I	I	G7	F	C	C

Minor 12 Bar Blues

If you a little more experienced I would strongly suggest putting this minor version of the twelve bar blues to memory. Lovely progression, very soulful changes with the addition of a ♭VI⁷.

Minor 12 Bar Blues
Roman numerals				Key of C
Imi	Imi7	Imi7	I7	Cmi	Cmi7	Cmi7	C7
IVmi7	IVmi7	Imi7	Imi7	Fmi7	Fmi7	Cmi7	Cmi7
♭VI7	V7	Imi7	I7	A♭7	G7	Cmi7	C7

Summary

12 Bar Blues is essential for any musicians toolbox so be sure to at least memorize the basic version and remember, this is not an exhaustive list, there are many more variations out there, but the versions I have included in this lesson would be the most common.

Cheers & enjoy!