12 bar blues pattern piano pdf

The 12 bar form is the most basic and common type of blues form. Download the pdf of the the barrel house blues piece. Youll see what i mean once youve tried the first 12 bar 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. Mar 29, 2019 then the pattern you started with for the e, followed by the a and a last run at the b. In the basic f blues, the 12 bars are only made up of 3 different chords.

Here are some of my favourite online music resources. Once you understand the chords and structure of the 12 bar blues, you will be able to learn any blues tune real quick. Both are great options for prac when played in a suitable key for beginners. While this does the job as far as creating that bluesy sound, there is a far more effective and expressive way of playing through blues changes. The blues for free content learn jazz piano online. The 12 bar blues is one of the most iconic song forms ever. When you see a group of musicians getting together to play everyone seems to know what to do almost magically.

How to play a simple walking bass left hand pattern on the. In this lesson were going to explore the harmonic and rhythmic structure of the blues. Here are pictures and notes of the major pentatonic blues scales. You will learn how to incorporate these licks into. Unlike most tonal music, which uses dominant 7th chords 5b7 as functional harmony, the blues uses them to add color, most commonly in a 12bar form figure 1.

This exercise introduces students to the three basic chords of the blues. As the blues moved north, the chicago sound developed, and with it the 12 bar blues. How to play a simple walking bass left hand pattern on the piano using a 12 bar blues progression. Lets start by looking at a simple 12 bar blues in a. Stylegroove usesf e e l main patte rn s imp le v ariat io n s single notes, blocked chords the simples t lh pat ter n is just sing le not es or chords. Although blues music has evolved over time, a fundamental chord progression called the 12 bar blues still lives on. Easy blues on acoustic guitar for beginners combine chords and melody. Chords, patterns and fills for major and minor blues. Mastery of the blues and rhythm changes are critical elements for building a jazz repertoire. We will start off right at the beginning, talking about what the 12 bar blues is, how it is constructed, and how it is played. Every group of musicians is familiar with the twelve bar blues, and its ubiquity means that anyone can jump into. This is because at one time or another they learned the 12 bar blues progression. The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars thus the phrase 12bar blues that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords.

Playing the blues often comes down to a straight forward chord progression, which anyone can learn and play on the piano within minutes. Blues piano tutorial chord progression 12 bar blues youtube. This chord progression is based around the most important chords. Easy guitar tutorial 12 bar blues in ethe 12 bar blues is a very common pattern and an important one for guitar players to learn. Once youve mastered the basic 12 bar blues rhythm it is time to move onto using variations on the basic pattern, allowing you to improvise within the rhythm part. 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. Today i want to talk to you about the 12 bar blues. 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.

Count and play your way through 12 bar blues change how to. Before using this guide, pleas e r ef er to my not es a t ti mtopham. Instead of annoying, creepy, privacyinvading ads, popups, or selling your data, studybass relies on the support of its users. 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 chords. Basically you are using this riff in the place of the actual chords, simply using the first note which always matches the twelve bar blues to imply the basic structure and melody. The 12bar blues form exercises blues bass studybass. In this how to video, learn to play the 12 bar blues on the piano or keyboard with this beginner blues lesson. The gullah net website includes information about the evolution of blues music and how it influenced. Learn how to play the 12 bar blues on the piano in this piano lesson. It is not only the basic structure for blues, but is also used extensively in rock, country, jazz and pop music.

One place where it really works is in a 12 bar blues. The 12 bar blues is the most common blues chord progression. Examining the 12bar blues pattern if youve ever spent any time around a serious blues musician or music aficionado, youve probably heard the phrase 12 bar blues tossed about. Soloing over blues progressions a more effective approach most guitarists are taught to play minor pentatonic or the flat 5 blues scale when soloing over a 1 4 5 blues progression. Floridabound blues is a standard 12bar blues with words and music in. This entire exercise can be wrapped up by having students complete a onepage written. The standard 12bar blues progression has three chords in it the 1 chord, the 4 chord, and then the 5 chord. Most effective way of soloing over blues progressions. The blues is one of the simplest styles of music of the 19th century. With that in mind, well be in the key of e blues through this entire series. Its simple, fun, and can entertain everybody if done right. A really important skill in playing blues is being able to play your 12 bar blues rhythm shuffle in any key.

Blues music paved the way for many other genres of music we know and love. In this lesson, you will learn about the chords used in the 12 bar blues chord progression. Jan 07, 2019 the 2nd most famous blues chord progression is the quick change, also called quickfour. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. There are plenty of arrangements, based on chord progressions, to use. As you can see, all other parts of the progression are exactly the same as the basic 12 bar blues. More you dont need, the rest of the bars is played the same way as those 3. 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. This video teaches a little boogie woogie trick using the 3rd and 7th of a chord on the piano or keyboard. How to play twelve bar blues with pictures wikihow. I use the 12 bar blues pattern a lot for students doing the guild musicianship phase.

A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a. The 12 bar blues is a very common pattern and an important one for guitar players to learn. Otherwise the last four measures is the blues turnaround, this with or without seventh chords is probably the most common form in modern blues rock. 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. It is built of only 3 chords making it really easy to play and a perfect skill to learn as a beginner piano player. For the sake of brevity, ill only look at playing blues in the key of c. It doesnt matter whether you are a complete beginner or a long time classical player, as learning to play the 12 bar piano blues chords will only take a few minutes. 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. Oct 17, 2017 the bass line in this song is built around a 12 bar blues framework in the key of e. The information in this lesson is essential to understand how the blues is constructed and how it is most commonly played. The 12 bar blues has long been a favourite amongst music educators for teaching form, triads, the blues scale, cyclical chord progressions and music history. Jun 09, 2015 take your blues playing to the next level with this piano and organ video lesson, in which i will first play and then dissect four blues licks. Below is a list of the i, iv, v chords of the 12 bar blues chord progression in all 12 keys.

The only 3 chords you need to master the blues on piano. Chord variations may also be added for harmonic diversity. The vast majority of contemporary blues music is based on what is termed a 12bar format. So the scale would be gbbceb, or with more notes as they are able. The cadence or last four measures uniquely leads to the root by perfect intervals of fourths. In jazz, twelve bar blues progressions are expanded with moving substitutions and chordal variations. Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. In the above example, the last 2 measures use a cadence referred to as a turnaround. The quiz will also assess your comprehension of concepts like the chords that make up a 12 bar blues. Apr 14, 2020 the 12bar form the primary harmonic structure of the blues is the iivv progression, which derived from church music of the south. Youtube how to play the iivi jazz chord progression duration. This quiz and worksheet will gauge your grasp of 12 bar blues. The twelve bar blues progression is perhaps the most common chord progression in american music. In the minor variation of the 12bar blues, minor 7th chords are substituted for the i7 and iv7 chords.

The vast majority of contemporary blues music is based on what is termed a 12 bar format. As well as the video tutorial, ive included a pdf of this fun lick in the 12 major keys. The 12bar blues is by far the most popular form for the blues. 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. We can create a walking bass line over the following twelvebar blues chord progression.

Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the c7, f7, and g7 chords. Playing the 12 bar blues chord progression in all 12 keys. Pf principles training piano basics pf principles training crucial chord knowledge pf principles training identifying song structures. Apr 09, 20 i use the 12 bar blues pattern a lot for students doing the guild musicianship phase.

It also covers how to play a 12 bar blues in any key. However, if you can, take this 2 5 1 lick in the key of c and see if you can transpose it into the other 11. A walking bass line is simply a melodic bass line found mainly in jazz and blues styles in which you walk around in quarter notes connecting the chords. 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. The scene from back to the future in which michael j fox plays johnny b goode, and george ezras song budapest which is an extended 12 bar blues form. In the other examples i just wrote out the alternatives to bar 1,2 and 9. R58 root5octave the pop pattern used in jus t ab out all film, pop, b allad arrang ement s.

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 charles and fats domino would use. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the i, iv, and v chords of a key. I like having the kids begin their rh with 3rd finger on c instead of thumb. Play 12 bar blues in c major with a triad bass line how to. The term 12 bar refers to the number of measures, or musical bars, used to express the theme of a typical blues song. 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.

The 2nd most famous blues chord progression is the quick change, also called quickfour. Played by boogiewoogie piano players and later appropriated by robert johnson, the shuffle pattern is in its most basic. The easiest blues on acoustic guitar easy blues for. On the first instance of the 5 chord typically the 9th bar in 12 bar blues. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth. Download the free piano sheet music and video directly to your computer.

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. That means that youll have three chords to keep in mind, the i chord e, the iv chord a, and the v chord b. Learning the 12 bar blues progression is basic to understanding the roots of american popular music. The turnaround occurs in the last two measures of a 12 bar progression and is often a critical element of the progression, so a solid understanding of the 12 bar format is needed. Or, in the same way, the g blues scale with the chords g7, c7 and d7. Again, use the middle finger of your fretting hand to anchor the root notes of each chord in the blues progression. Which you should have had down from the last lesson. Well focus less on theory and a little more on the left hand mechanics. Some of the great jazz pianists of the day recorded with smith. For teaching high schoolers to play 12 bar blues ive found 2 things very helpful. The most common musical form of blues is the 12 bar blues. In its most basic form, it contains just the i, the iv and the v chords of the given key.

The bass line itself is an essential part of this tune, so lets dive right into the intervals that make up the pattern. Jul 07, 2018 playing the blues often comes down to a straight forward chord progression, which anyone can learn and play on the piano within minutes. A 12bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song. Louis armstrong, a trumpeter, is another prime example of a musician who soloed over the 12 bar progression. Finally, i showed students the 12bar blues progression on page 1. Its called the 12 bar blues because its only 12 bars long. When you see a group of blues musicians play together, everyone magically seems to. The twelvebar blues or blues changes is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The 12bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues. A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a 12bar format. Try to play the chords with your left hand and notes from the scale with your right. A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a 12 bar format. The other major benefit of the method i show you here is. This is the first lesson in our study of the 12 bar blues.

Notice how the same rhythmic pattern is used throughout. Looking at the progression, youll see that you play the g chord for four bars, the c chord for. How to play boogie woogie and 12 bar blues on the piano. Chord progression refers to the order in which chords are used in these 12 bars. A 12 bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song. A nice combination are the chords am7, dm7 and e7 together with the a pentatonic blues scale. Instead of having a few different things to try in this lesson, we are going to learn a written. 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. It was originated by african american in the deep south of america. In the key of e blues, the 1 chord is an e, the 4 chord is an a, and the 5 chord is a b.

Jul 04, 2019 in the first example i wrote out the entire 12 bar blues. Each of these songs follows the 12bar blues pattern. Today i want to show you how to play an easy 12 bar blues on your acoustic guitar using fingerstyle technique in this guitar lesson, we are going to combine chords and melody. Playing the 12 bar blues chord progression in the key of c. Dec 10, 2017 heres another fun 2 5 1 lick for the piano. The 12 bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues.