M Wikihow Com Play The Blues On Guitar

How to Play the Blues on Guitar Expert
Reviewed
The blues, a type of music originating from the African-American communities in

the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals,
work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.
As a musical form, it began and developed with little more than guitars and voices.
While the blues take a lifetime to develop, the basics are simple enough for
anyone to begin playing.
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Method One of Two:

Playing the 12-Bar Blues Chords
1 Use the 12-bar blues chord progression as the backing of any blues
song. This form is simply a guide for when to play certain chords. Each bar
(or count of "1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, 1...") is assigned a chord, and together they form
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the melodic backbone of 95% of blues songs. To make it, you simply take the
first (I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) chords of the major scale and make them into
chords. Once you know the form in one key, like "E," you can then easily
transpose the song into any key you want. For the key of E, your chords are E,
A, and B.
While the following article uses easy to form power chords, you can also
uses seventh chords, minor chords, or minor sevenths.
Before beginning, make sure you review the major and minor scales for
guitar.
The blues are in simple 4/4 time, like almost all radio songs. If this is a
struggle, review rhythm and time signatures.
2 Alternate a big downstroke and a quick upstroke when strumming for a

"shuffle" feel. Use a "swung", chugging rhythm to give the song a blues feel
your strums should sound like "dun da-dun da-dun da-dun..." It can help to
listen to early blues recordings like Robert Johnson's "I Believe I'll Dust My
Broom" to get this rhythm down.br>
If you count out, like "1 and, 2 and, etc," think of a big strum down on the
number, then a quick upstroke for "and."
If this is difficult at first, start with a strumming pattern that works for you until
you get the progression down.
3 Play an open E, the I chord, for four measures. The first chord you play is
going to be the key of the song. So, if you start with an E, your songs will be
a twelve bar blues in the key of E. You'll hold this E for four full bars.
It always helps to practice with a metronome to ensure you play each
measure the correct number of times.
4 Play open A (the IV chord) for two measures, return to then E for two
measures. Next, in a 12-bar blues, you play the fourth of the starting chord
for two measures before returning to the starting chord. Since A is three notes
above an E in the major scale, it's the IV chord in the key of E.
5 Play B-A-E-B, each for one measure to end the progression. The last
four bars of a 12-bar blues are called "the turnaround." In the turnaround,
you play the fifth, the fourth, the starting chord, and then repeat the fifth one
more time. B is the fifth of E since it is one note above A, the fourth, so we play
B, then A, then E, then B again.
6 Repeat ad nauseum. That's all there is to a basic 12-bar blues just play
E-E-E-E-A-A-E-E-B-A-E-B until the song's over (note that, when they're
performed live, most 12-bars have a special ending that will vary from song to
song.) To get the full 12-bar experience, try getting a friend who's more
experienced at guitar to solo over your chords with a little practice, you
should soon get the hang of this simple but important blues progression.
To play in a different key, simply pick a different starting chord and shift the
fourth and fifth accordingly. For instance, if you want to play in the key of C,
you'll use C as your starting chord, F for the fourth, and G for the fifth. You
can find a good guide for playing the 12-bar in different keys here .
Looking to spice up your progression? Check out Wikihow's ways to spice
up your riff.
7 Substitute 7 chords for a bluesy feel. Real blues musicians often use a
special kind of chord called a "7" chord (or a "dominant 7th chord") to make
the song sound a little "bluesier." These chords are the same as major chords,
but with one note different. For a quick rundown of how to finger the most
common 7 chords, click here.
You have two options when you substitute 7 chords into a 12-bar blues: you
can either change the fifth to a 7 chord (for instance, in the key of A, E would
become E7), or you can change every chord to a 7 chord (in the key of A, A
would become A7, D would become D7, and E would become E7.) Different
options sound better for different songs, so try experimenting to find the
chords you like.[1]
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Playing the 12-Bar Blues Chords
Method Two of Two:

Learning the Basic Blues Scale
1 Use a modified version of the pentatonic scale to solo over any chord
1 progression. If you remember the pentatonic scale, this will be an easy
modification. If you don't know it, then it can't hurt to review, but the rest of the
article will continue as if you've never played it before.
The following scale is for the E-minor blues, meaning it will fit the chord
progression played earlier.
2 Use all of the open strings as part of your scale. The beauty of playing in
E is that you can use all of the open notes as part of your scale, meaning
you don't have to fret six of the notes in the scale. This can make hammer-ons,
pull-offs, and quick multi-string playing a lot of fun with a lot less effort.
3 Play the open note and the 3rd fret on the sixth string. These are the first
two notes of your scale. Play the root note, here the E on the open sixth
string, then move down three frets. Most people play this second note with their
ring finger or pinky.
Remember that the pentatonic scale is a "shape." You can move this to start
on any note on the 6th string. The first note of the scale will be the song's
key.
4 Move down a string, playing the open note, the first fret, and the
second fret. These three notes are where the blues scale differs from the
pentatonic, which ignores the first fret. This note, however, is the "flat fifth" in
music theory that makes a song sound bluesy. You will play three notes total on
the A string.
The flat fifth is an accent -- it is best played quickly, not lingered on.
5 Play the open string and second fret on the D string. Note how a box-like
pattern is forming. The open strings form a constant "line" of notes in the
scale, while your ring finger frets a box either 2-3 frets down. Here, you simply
play the open string and the second fret.
6 Play the open string, second fret, and third fret on the G string. This
third fret is actually a reoccurring flat fifth -- it is the octave of the note you
played earlier. Theory aside, this means the 3rd fret, usually played with your
pinky, is another bluesy accent note.
7 Play the open string and the 3rd fret of the last two strings. The last two
strings are identical to the first string. Simply create this little box between
the open string and the third frets on both the high-E and B strings.
8 Move the whole scale down to the 12th fret to see how easily the form
moves. You can play the exact same scale starting from a different E.
Simply move the whole form down to the 12th fret, since the 6th string 12th fret
note is another E. Now, instead of playing open notes, you simply fret every
string on the 12th fret when you get to it. Everything else stays in place.
Now that you know the scale, practice getting up and down it as smoothly
and quickly as possible, in multiple locations across the fret board.
Check out "Master Lead Guitar Basics" for cool ways to use notes in a solo
or improvisation.[2]
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Learning the Basic Blues Scale
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Tips
The blues take a lifetime to master and are infinitely complex. Keep playing,
practicing, and listening to the blues to get better and better.
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Things You'll Need

A guitar (if electric, use amp if available)
A plectrum (or thumb if you don't have one)
A fair knowledge of guitar
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How to Play the Blues on Guitar Expert

The blues, a type of music originating from the African-American communities in

Method One of Two:

2 Alternate a big downstroke and a quick upstroke when strumming for a

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Method Two of Two:

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Know a good tip? Add it. Add

Things You'll Need

How to Change Classical Guitar Strings

How to Teach Yourself to Play Guitar

How to Buy Your First Guitar

How to Put a Strap On a Guitar

How to Teach Kids to Play Guitar

How to Play the Guitar and Sing at the Same Time

Learn Piano In 21 Days

About this wikiHow

Expert Review By:

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