Introduction

There’s an old saying that goes “you’ve got to pay your dues to play the blues,” but it’s not entirely clear what those dues are. Depending on whom you ask, “dues” can range from selling one’s soul to living through a world of pain, suffering, and bad gigs. But the least sensational dues are perhaps the most important—the dues you pay through experience. By learning and practicing the scales and chord progressions behind blues songs, you gain the experience needed to play the blues with others and create your own authentic-sounding blues tunes.

Blues songs are everywhere. Everything from Cream’s classic live version of “Crossroads” to Robert Johnson’s “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom” and even tunes in other genres—like the surf classic “Wipe Out,” the melody section of the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s big-band hit “In the Mood,” and pop tunes like Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”—all use blues progressions. One of the reasons that the blues are so universal is that blues songs tend to use just a few basic forms. If you’re familiar with these forms, you can sit down with almost anyone and immediately play, without having to go over song forms or chords—just pick a key and let it fly!

In this lesson, we’ll pay our dues by learning a few basic blues forms. When you’re done, you should be able to follow along with most impromptu blues jams.

Blues Building Blocks: Chords

To play most blues songs, you need only three chords—the I, IV, and V of whatever key you’re in. Example 1 shows the I, IV, and V chords in the key of E. These numbers aren’t random; each chord’s Roman numeral describes its relationship to the underlying key or scale. Example 2 shows how this works. In the key of E, all the chords are built from an E-major scale. E is the I chord in the key because it’s built on the first note of this scale. The A and B chords are the IV and V chords, respectively, because they’re built from the fourth and fifth notes of the E-major scale. (For other keys, see “I, IV, and V Chords in Popular Guitar Keys”).

In addition to knowing which chords to use, it’s also good to know what types of chords are common in any genre. In blues music, major chords work fine, but it’s also very common to use dominant-seven chords—in the key of E, that would be E7, A7, and B7, as shown in Example 3.

 Audio: Example 1

 Audio: Example 2

 Audio: Example 3

Basic 12-Bar Blues

By far the most common blues chord progression is the 12-bar blues, a 12-measure pattern that—in its most basic form—organizes the I, IV, and V chords as shown in Example 4. A basic 12-bar blues starts with the I chord for four full measures; follows that with the IV chord for two measures; returns to the I chord for two measures; heads up to the V chord for two measures; and ends with two measures of the I chord before starting over from the beginning. If you learn this chord progression, you’ll be able to join in on many blues jams, and with a few extra variations (some of which we’ll explore later in this lesson), you’ll be able to keep up at most any blues jam.

 Audio: Example 4

Other Blues Forms

A less-popular blues form is the eight-bar blues. As you can guess, this form is eight measures long, but the placement of the I, IV, and V chords varies from song to song a little more than it does in a 12-bar blues. Example 5 shows one of the more popular eight-bar blues progressions; this is how the chords fall in songs like Elmore James’ “It Hurts Me Too.” The B7 chord in parentheses (measure 2) is a common modification of this eight-bar form, something you’ll find in songs like “Key to the Highway.”

 Audio: Example 5 Variation

 Audio: Example 5

You may run across a 16-bar blues, like the one in Example 6. This 16-bar progression is actually a modified 12-bar blues that repeats measures 9–10 three times, with one slight modification: you go back to the IV chord every other measure.

 Audio: Example 6

Some other blues forms are created by stretching or truncating measures to fit guitar licks or vocal phrases. Example 7 shows a ten-bar form with an extended tenth measure that’s similar to Robert Johnson’s “Come On in My Kitchen.” If you play through the first eight measures of this example, it sounds like a modified eight-bar blues, but Johnson adds a two-measure lick that starts in the eighth measure, elongating the form to nine measures. Then, he pauses for a measure between each verse, creating a ten-bar form. Each verse starts with a pickup, but Johnson doesn’t start the pickup until after the fourth beat, which adds an extra beat to the final measure. Quirks like these may seem strange (or even like accidents), but artists often repeat them every time they play the song. However, you’re more likely to find these types of quirks in early blues songs and blues sung by soloists without a band, where forms occasionally took a backseat to vocal and melodic lines.

 Audio: Example 7

12-Bar Blues Variations

There are many ways you can modify blues progressions, from adding or leaving out a few chords to heavily modifying the form. Let’s start by looking at a few common variations on the 12-bar blues, shown in Example 8. The first two beats are a pickup, so measure 1 begins with the E7 chord. Notice that measure 2 goes to A7 (the IV7 chord). This variation is called a “quick four” because you quickly hit the IV chord before heading back to the I chord in measure 3. Everything else matches the basic 12-bar blues progression until measure 10, where there’s an A7 chord (the IV7) instead of a second bar of B7. This modification is very common; you’ll probably hear it more often than the basic 12-bar blues in Example 4. The final variation happens in measure 12, where there’s a B7 (V7) instead of the E7. This move to the V7 at the end of the form is called a turnaround because it “turns things around” and moves the progression back to the start more smoothly than just sitting on the I chord. Turnarounds can start anywhere in the final two measures, although you’ll most often hear them in the final measure, as in this example.

 Audio: Example 8

Jazz blues progressions take the form and modify it even further—sometimes so much that you may not recognize it’s a blues at all! In our final song, “No-Pain Blues,” we’ll take the progression from Example 8 and add a few chords to it that you might find in jazz blues tunes. We start off with a pickup, but notice that the first five measures of “No-Pain Blues” are the same as Example 8. Then in measure 6, we hit our first snag—a Bbdim chord! Jazz blues progressions often use diminished chords as passing chords to help chord transitions sound a little smoother. Notice how this chord adds a little more motion than what you hear in Example 8. Another staple in jazz and jazz blues tunes is the ii–V–I progression. The iii–VI–ii–V progression in measures 8–10 may look a little funny, but it’s really just two sets of ii–V–I progressions that finally resolve to the I chord in measure 11 (in addition to being the iii and VI chords of E, the G#m and C# are the ii and V of F#m). One final set of alterations happens in measure 12, where we’ve substituted one final ii–V–I progression as a turnaround, emphasizing the resolution to the I chord at the top of the form. I’ve added a final measure to the song so that you can hear how this resolution sounds.

 “No-Pain Blues” (Slow) 

 “No-Pain Blues” 

Well, there you have it: more blues forms and variations than you’ll need to navigate through most jam sessions. Take them for a spin in your own playing, and as you listen to other genres of songs, see if you can spot any of these blues progressions hiding behind the chords. You may be surprised at how often you’ll hear it!