blues rhythm lesson 1

8/2/2019 Blues Rhythm Lesson 1

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Blues Rhythm Lesson 1

In this lesson I am going to take you through the basic 12 bar and show you some examplesof a 12 bar blues rhythm.

Basic 12 Bar Blues Rhythm

Put simply, a 12 bar blues needs 3 chords; the 1 chord , 4 chord and 5 chord . If I use the keyof C Major for now and write the notes out along with the numbers 1 to 7 I get this....

C - 1D - 2E - 3F - 4G - 5A - 6B - 7

So the 1, 4 and 5 chords are C, F and G . The same system works for all 12 keys, just pick the

1, 4 and 5 out of each key and you have the 3 chords needed to play a 12 bar.

Rhythm Chart

This is the simplest 12 bar blues; play 4 bars of the 1 chord, 2 bars of the 4 chord, 2 bars of the 1 chord, 1 bar each of the 5 then 4 chord and finally 2 bars of the 1 chord. On Rhythm

Audio Ex 1 you will hear one downstrum for every beat. Here is the chord chart for this rhythm.Note that I am using the '/' symbol after each chord name as it tidies the rhythm chart up alittle.....

C/// C/// C/// C/// F/// F/// C/// C/// G/// F/// C/// C///

7th Chords

Major Chords are OK when playing blues but they sound quiet stable and 'at home'. To add alittle more tension I am going to now show you a 12 bar with 7th chords. The chart will be inthe key of A , so the 1, 4 and 5 will be A7, D7 and E7 .

The chart is as follows.....

A7/// A7/// A7/// A7/// D7/// D7/// A7/// A7/// E7/// D7/// A7/// A7///

Here is another 12 bar, this time in the key of E, which means the 3 chords will be E7, A7 andB7

E7/// E7/// E7/// E7/// A7/// A7/// E7/// E7/// B7/// A7/// E7/// E7///

Strumming

There are 2 ways to strum a chord; using a Downstroke or an Upstroke . A downstrokemeans strumming from the bottom E string to the top E string; an Upstroke is from the top Estring towards the bottom E. With Upstrokes, don't be too pedantic about having to hit everysingle string; as a Downstroke comes before it most of the strings will be ringing out anyway.

With the examples in C,E and A, I have also provided some alternate strumming patterns.

Although I have suggested some tempos with the three rhythm charts, start slowly to beginwith and gradually build up the speed with the metronome. Also, try the different strumpatterns with each chart for variety.


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blues rhythm lesson 1

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