Chord Progressions
12 Bar Blues
12 Bar Blues is a pattern of chords which repeats every 12 bars. There are hundreds of songs based on this chord progression, i.e., they contain basically the same chords in the same order. 12 bar blues is commonly used in many styles of music
Some well known songs which use this 12 bar chord pattern are:
- Be-bop-a-lula – Gene Vincent/John Lennon
- Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
- Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
- Boppin’ the Blues – Blackfeather
- The Wanderer – Dion
- Going up the Country – Canned Heat
- Makin’ Your Mind Up – Bucks Fizz
- Green Door – Shakin’ Stevens
- In the Summertime – Mungo Jerry
- Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley & The Comets
- Barbara Ann – The Beach Boys
- Let’s Stick Together – Bryan Ferry
- Long Tall Glasses (I Know I Can Dance) – Leo Sayer
- Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley
- The Thrill is Gone – BB King
- School Days (Ring Ring Goes the Bell) – Chuck Berry
- Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry
- Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum
- Turn Up Your Radio – The Masters Apprentices
- Tutti Frutti – Little Richard
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy – Larry Williams/The Beatles
- Peggy Sue – Buddy Holly
- Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
- Get Down and Get With It – Slade
- Good Golly Miss Molly – Little Richard
- Lucille – Little Richard
- In the Mood – Glen Miller
- Surfin’ Safari – The Beach Boys
- Peppermint Twist – Sweet
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – The Andrew Sisters/Bette Midler
- I Hear You Knocking – Dave Edmunds
- Boy From New York City – Darts/Manhattan Transfer
- Mountain of Love – Johnny Rivers
- I Love to Boogie – T-Rex
- Shake Rattle & Roll – Bill Hayley
- Lady Rose – Mungo Jerry
- Theme to Batman
- Theme to Spiderman
- Stuck in the Middle with you – Steelers Wheelers
- Hot Love – T-Rex
- The Huckle Buck – Brendan Bower
- Way Down – Elvis Presley
- I Can Help – Billy Swan
- Rockin’ Robin – Michael Jackson
- Red House – Jimi Hendrix
- Texas Flood – Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Killing Floor – Jimi Hendrix
- The Jack – AC/DC
- Ice Cream Man - Van Halen
- Oh Pretty Woman – Gary Moore
In a basic 12 Bar Blues, there are usually three different chords. Each of these relates to one basic key. In Blues, the most common chords are those built on notes 1, 4 and 5 of the major scale. So in the key of C, these chords would be C, F and G. In the key of E they would be E, A and B. The next example demonstrates the 12 Bar Blues progression in the key of E. In the most basic version, chords I and IV are major, while chord V can be major or a dominant 7th. There are a number of scales you could use to improvise over this progression including the E minor pentatonic, E major pentatonic, E Blues scale, E Mixolydian or E Dorian. Each one will produce a different effect.
There are many variations on the 12 Bar Blues form. Most traditional Blues songs have a dominant tonality – i.e., they are played using dominant 7ths, or variations such as 9ths and 13ths. Depending on the style, there may be only three different chords or there may be many changes throughout the 12 bars. This progression is a typical example of how a Jazz player might play a Blues in C.
