From the course: Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist
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The 12-bar blues progression
From the course: Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist
The 12-bar blues progression
- Is most diatonic music, chords move towards other chords in some standard ways. The movement of one chord to another is called a progression. We can understand chord progressions by using the roman numerals of diatonic harmony. Let's take a look at a widely used chord progression. The 12-Bar Blues is one of the most common song forms. It transcends all styles. You find the 12-Bar Blues in rock, jazz, country, and of course, the blues. A 12-Bar Blues is a 12 measure chord progression using the one, four and five chords of a specific key. In the blues, we often play these as dominant seventh chords. This is departure from diatonic harmony in which only the five chord is dominant, but it's an essential sound of the blues. Let's look at the progression. This is an A Blues. As we mentioned, the one, four and five chords are all dominant seventh chords. Listen to how it sounds. I'll just play through it one time.…
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