Beginning Blues For Electric Guitar
Many guitarists aspire to play the blues
Many guitarists aspire to play the blues. Even if it's not your main style, you'll still find a lot of enjoyment in a good 12-bar jam. The blues is a very deceptive style. It's very simple to grasp the basics (which we'll do here) but it can take a lifetime to really master the style and create your own voice within it. Let's start down the road then...
Your two basic elements of the blues are the 12-bar progression and the minor pentatonic scale.
A blues songs works different than pop music format. Whereas in a pop or rock song you'd have verses, choruses, and bridges, the blues format only has choruses. The same 12 bars are repeated as many times as needed for the arrangement. This makes them great for jamming because there's not a lot of transitions to work out with the other players.
A standard 12 bar blues looks like this:
| I | I | I | I |
| IV | IV | I | I |
| V | V | I | I |
Or written another way:
4 bars of the I chord
2 bars of the IV chord
2 bars of the I chord
2 bars of the V chord
2 bars of the I chord
So, in they key of E, that would be E for the I chord, A for the IV chord, and B for the V chord. And since it's the blues, it's common to make all of them 7th chords.
There are a few common variations you'll see. First, in the 10th bar where we normally have a V chord, that will often go to the IV chord instead. You'd have one bar of the V and one bar of the IV.
Another variation, called a turnaround happens in bar 12. You would go the V chord instead of just hanging on the I. This sets up a tension that makes a nice transition back to the top of the form for another chorus.
One other variation happens in the 2nd measure and is called a "quick change". It's normally used with very slow tempo songs. Instead of hanging on the I chord for four bars, you change to the IV chord in the 2nd measure. Then back to the I chord for the next two measures.
With a slow tempo, four bars of one chord can be tedious, so changing to the IV gives a little harmonic variation to keep things interesting. It can be used in up tempo tunes as well.
Now let's move the minor pentatonic scale. A PENTAtonic scale has just 5 notes in it, as opposed to a regular 7 note western scale. It's origins are Asian and African. But put it in the hands of an old blues cat from Louisiana and it takes on a totally different character.
The notes are 1 b3 4 5 b7
In the key of C minor that would be: C Eb F G Bb
It doesn't seem like a lot of notes, but you can get tons of action with them. The most common way to play them on the guitar is a "box pattern" rooted from the 6th string like this:
A minor Pentatonic
----------------------------------------------------------*5-----8--------
-----------------------------------------------5----8-------------------
-----------------------------------5----7---(8)----------------------------
------------------------5----*7------------------------------------------
------------5----7-----------------------------------------------------
--*5---8----------------------------------------------------------------
Now, that's a moveable pattern. So think less about the fret numbers and more about the finger pattern. Then it's easy to move it to any key. If you need the key of C, start at the 8th fret. Key of G? Start at the 3rd fret.
The starred (*) notes are the roots of the key. In the tab case above, those are all A's.
You'll also notice the (8) on the 3rd string. This is an optional note we call "The Blue Note". In technical terms, it's a b5. But it's a very powerful note to use once in awhile to really put an emotive twist on your melody. Don't over use though or it loses it's effectiveness.
Start learning that scale in different keys and playing your 12 bar progressions and you'll be well on your way to becoming a blues hound.
Lastly, listen to as many blues artists as you can stand. Always a good thing to do when learning a new style. The basics here are easy. To really sound good, there's lots of little details to pick up. Listen to BB King, Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Johnson, and Buddy Guy for a good blues guitar primer.
Beginning Blues For Electric Guitar
By: Phil Johnson
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