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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
12 Bar Blues Progressions
12 Bar Blues Progressions
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gene
54 posts
Nov 06, 2008
4:10 PM
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Adam, this has been eatin’ on me, so I finally decided to ask.
In all the lessons I’ve seen, this is the progression that is used:
I I I I * IV IV I I * V IV I I
It was even used in that 13 bar blues in one of your lessons, the 11th bar being repeated. (From HarpAttack.)
Somewhere (I don’t remember where.), I saw these progressions listed:
I I I I * IV IV I I * V V I I
I I I I * IV IV I I * V IV I V
I I I I * IV IV I I * V IV IV I
I IV I I * IV IV I I * V IV IV I
I IV I I * IV IV I I * V IV I V
I IV I I * I IV I I * V IV I I
Are they rarely used? Are there more? Is one progression used for blues with a boogie flavor and another one used for blues with a rock flaor, etc?
Will you cover this in a future lesson?
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Trueblue
Guest
Nov 07, 2008
12:12 PM
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I also have problems with the 12 Bar Blues Progression. I understand its importance when playing with a group however I would like to know if it is necessary to adhere to the 12 bar progression when playing solo? I understand the need for some structure and in having to keep proper timing however when playing a slow blues on my own I sometimes havn't a clue where I am at, but it all sounds ok?
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Miles Dewar
59 posts
Nov 07, 2008
1:36 PM
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I- I- I- I
IV- IV- I- I
V- IV- I- I/V
is what i use, you can play solo, just imagine the music in your brain. I listen to a lot of funk, so my solo 12 blues playing sounds somewhat "funky", although i dont know what properties make the music Funky. But just keep the beat with your feet, and move alot. Whenever i learn a new lick or riff, i try to figure out how i can incorporate it into the 12 bar system. Just keep it simple at first, Play single notes, {da da da dadada da} (2draw) on the "I Chord", (4 blow) on the "IV chord", (4 or 1 draw) on V chord. just keep it simple with single notes, and then you can leave spaces, or put a lick over a bar. Thats what i started doing.
Go Chicago Bears!!!
---Be Positive---
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oda
Guest
Nov 08, 2008
5:54 AM
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can you guys elaborate? I've been meaning to find a good source on learning this progression -- in basic steps. Like what the heck is I and IV?
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gene
56 posts
Nov 08, 2008
3:58 PM
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Oda, here's Adam Gussow(aka Adam, aka Kudzurunner, aka the guy who's forum this is) talking about it.
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICbLTZu5alY
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ACf2gUQ5I8
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wofpAKwJKFg
The I chord is a G chord if the song is in G, a C chord if the song is in C, etc.
The IV chord is a chord named after the fourth step. In other words, if the song is in C, the first step is C, so the fourth step is (uhm...C, D, E, F)...F! The IV chord is an F chord and the V chord is a G chord.
I'm saying "an" F or G chord rather than "the" F or G chord because I don't know what kind if F or G chord. It seems one of them is supposed to be the 7th diminion constrapuladoomaflogied or sumthin'.
Last Edited by on Nov 08, 2008 4:05 PM
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kudzurunner
163 posts
Nov 08, 2008
7:54 PM
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I'll number them and do them one by one:
1) I I I I * IV IV I I * V V I I
You've got the V chord in bar 10 instead of the IV chord. This is a standard substitution--more in country blues, I think. Very easy to hear when it's thrown at you.
2)I I I I * IV IV I I * V IV I V
This is actually THE standard blues progression. The V chord in bar 12 is the turnaround. Most real blues guys hit the V chord on the second beat of the 12th bar, not the first.
3) I I I I * IV IV I I * V IV IV I
I've never, ever heard this blues progression. In fact, pretty much the only inviolable rule of soling over a 12 bar blues is to hit the tonic note on the first beat of bar 11. Here you've got the IV chord there, not the I chord. Weird! BUT, on the other hand, it's quite common to substitute the IV chord on beats 3 and 4 of the 11th bar.
4) I IV I I * IV IV I I * V IV IV I
This version has a so-called "quick four", meaning a IV chord on bar 2 as a substitution for the expected I chord. This is a terrific substitution, and always acceptable. But that IV chord on bar 11 is still way, way outside acceptable practice.
5) I IV I I * IV IV I I * V IV I V
This, again, has the quick four and the V chord as a turnaround. This is pretty much the industry standard for a slow blues.
6) I IV I I * I IV I I * V IV I I
Never seen it. That I chord in bar 5 is just....weird.
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gene
57 posts
Nov 09, 2008
2:35 AM
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OK, thanks.
Wherever I saw those listed, they weren't explained beat for beat, so I guess substituting the IV for the I on beat 2 or 3 of the 11th bar could be where progressions # 3 and #4 get their names.
You didn't mention I I I I * IV IV I I * V IV I I. I thought that was the one that's in your lessons, but maybe it starts on V and ends on I (like yours) and ...V IV I I is just another way to name it. (?) If that's the case, that would explain progression # 6: It's the same as progression #5 but named differently.
"5) I IV I I * IV IV I I * V IV I V
This, again, has the quick four and the V chord as a turnaround. This is pretty much the industry standard for a slow blues."
I'll jot that down somewhere. I like slow blues.
As a matter of fact I'll copy your whole post and put it in my notebook.
Thanks again!
Last Edited by on Nov 09, 2008 5:27 AM
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kudzurunner
164 posts
Nov 09, 2008
5:29 AM
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That very first progression isn't actually one that I've mentioned. It, too, is more or less the industry standard--except for that I chord in the 12th bar. 95% of the time, you'd have a V chord there instead of the I chord. Robert Johnson added this turnaround to the blues in the 1930s, and it's now become the standard. I"m quite sure that if I go back to my three YT videos about the 12 bar blues progression, I show the V chord taking up most--although not all--of the 12th bar.
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TBone69
27 posts
Nov 11, 2008
6:14 AM
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Wow Great Thread! I finally think I got it and understand what the I IV and V chords are and how to figure them out.
Thanks
Tom
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