BazzLow
ENIT
Module 12 · Lesson 4

The 12-bar blues

Know the standard 12-bar blues form and its common variants.

Before this lesson: 10.4 The dominant seventh · 11.5 Swing and shuffle

Twelve bars, three chords, and an enormous amount of music. If you can follow a 12-bar blues you can join most jam sessions.

The form

The 12-bar blues is a 12-bar chord pattern on I, IV and V, usually all dominant 7th chords (I7, IV7, V7). It repeats for every verse, called a chorus, of the song. In the standard form there is one chord per bar:

The standard 12-bar blues, one chord per bar, in A and E.
Bar123456789101112
ChordI7I7I7I7IV7IV7I7I7V7IV7I7V7
AA7A7A7A7D7D7A7A7E7D7A7E7
EE7E7E7E7A7A7E7E7B7A7E7B7

In A: A7 A7 A7 A7 | D7 D7 A7 A7 | E7 D7 A7 E7.

Variants

  • quick change: IV7 in bar 2 (I7 IV7 I7 I7 …);
  • bar 10 stays on V7 instead of IV7;
  • bar 12 on I7 at the very end of the song.

The turnaround is the last bar or two (bars 11–12), which lead back to bar 1. Here they end on V7, the dominant that pulls back to I. Short figures are played there to signal the return.

Roots on the neck

The roots form an easy box: IV is on the next string up at the same fret, and V is two frets further.

Bass neck, frets 0–12The roots of I, IV and V in A: A at fret 5 on the E string, D at fret 5 on the A string, E at fret 7 on the A string.AE012345678IIVV
The roots of I, IV and V in A: A at fret 5 on the E string, D at fret 5 on the A string, E at fret 7 on the A string.
Bass neck, frets 0–12The same box in E: open E string, open A string, B at fret 2 on the A string.AE0123IIVV
The same box in E: open E string, open A string, B at fret 2 on the A string.

Good to know

Blues lyrics often follow the pattern A–A–B: a line, the same line repeated, an answering line, a call and response in four-bar phrases. Common keys are E, A, G and the other keys comfortable for guitar; with horns, B♭, E♭ and F are common. The 12-bar blues is the base of much rock and roll, R&B and jazz. Recognising it by ear is essential for jamming.

Try it

Play the roots of a 12-bar in A, one bar per chord, with a shuffle feel (lesson 11.5). Count the bars aloud.

New terms