Whenever you can learn some basic piece of information and apply that information to a variety of musical situations in your guitar playing it's an opportunity too good to miss.
Learning blues chord progressions is one such vital piece of information, you probably already play some blues chord progressions without even realizing it; it's highly likely...
there're almost impossible to avoid! Blues chord progressions are found in rock, country, jazz and folk music and just about everywhere else in between.
Let's get started with the most basic examples.
Basic Blues Chord Progressions: The most common format for the blues is the twelve bar blues chord progression, there's four variations of this progression, the trick is to learn to play these progressions in all keys and be able to recognize each progression by their distinctive sound and feel.
12 bar blues chord progressions: Blues 1 1 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 4 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 5 /// | 5 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// || Blues 2 1 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 4 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 5 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// || Blues 3 1 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 4 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 5 /// | 5 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// || Blues 4 1 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 4 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// | 5 /// | 4 /// | 1 /// | 1 /// || At first glance it looks complicated, the idea is to break everything down into tiny bite-size pieces i.
e.
, take a closer look a Blues 3 notice how except for bar two it's exactly the same as Blues 1.
Similarly, Blues 4 apart from the second bar is identical to blues 2.
I've presented each progression using numbers instead of chord names to make it easier to convert each progression into different keys.
Here's how that works...
The number 1 refers to chord one of that particular key e.
g.
, in the key of 'G' chord one would be 'G'.
The number 4 refers to chord four of that particular key e.
g.
, in the key of 'G' chord four would be 'C'.
The number 5 refers to chord five of that particular key e.
g.
, in the key of 'G' chord five would be 'D'.
I've listed the most popular keys below to help you get started.
Key of C 1 = C 4 = F 5 = G Key of G 1 = G 4 = C 5 = D Key of D 1 = D 4 = G 5 = A Key of A 1 = A 4 = D 5 = E Key of E 1 = E 4 = A 5 = B Here's a few working examples of the 12 bar blues chord progressions in different keys and formats to help you recognize them when you hear, play or see them.
Blues 1 - key of G G /// | G /// | G /// | G /// | C /// | C /// | G /// | G /// | D /// | D /// | G /// | G /// || Blues 2 - key of G G /// | G /// | G /// | G /// | C /// | C /// | G /// | G /// | D /// | C /// | G /// | G /// || Blues 3 - key of G G /// | C /// | G /// | G /// | C /// | C /// | G /// | G /// | D /// | D /// | G /// | G /// || Blues 4 - key of G G /// | C /// | G /// | G /// | C /// | C /// | G /// | G /// | D /// | C /// | G /// | G /// || Blues 1 - key of E E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// | A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// | B /// | B /// | E /// | E /// || Blues 2 - key of E E /// | E /// | E /// | E /// | A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// | B /// | A /// | E /// | E /// || Blues 3 - key of E E /// | A /// | E /// | E /// | A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// | B /// | B /// | E /// | E /// || Blues 4 - key of E E /// | A /// | E /// | E /// | A /// | A /// | E /// | E /// | B /// | A /// | E /// | E /// || As you learn or play a song run it through the "12 bar blues" filter, ask yourself is this song a 12 bar blues, if so, which version.
Here's an example...
Did you know that two popular Eric Clapton songs use the same 12 bar blues, blues 4 format? Do you know which ones?...
"Crossroads" and "Before You Accuse Me".
"Crossroads" is played in the key of A "Before You Accuse Me" is in the key of E (MTV unplugged version) Don't forget to check both songs out next time you play your guitar.