The 12 Bar Blues Progression
The 12 Bar Blues is a pattern of chords which repeats every 12 bars. There are hundreds of well known songs based on this chord progression, i.e., they contain basically the same chords in the same order. The 12 Bar Blues is commonly used in Rock music and is the basis of Blues music.
Here are some well known Rock songs which use this 12 bar chord pattern.
Songs using the 12 Bar Blues Progression
- Original Batman TV Theme
- Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
- Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley
- Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry
- Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley
- In the Mood - Glenn Miller
- Shake, Rattle and Roll - Bill Haley
- Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
- Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy - The Beatles
- Surfin’ USA - The Beach Boys
- Good Golly Miss Molly - Little Richard
The following 12 Bar Blues is in the key of G major and uses some of the chords you have learned so far. When a song is said to be in the key of G major, it means that the most important chord (and usually the first chord) is the G chord.
This pattern of chords will probably sound familiar to you. Instead of writing a chord symbol above each bar of music, it is common to only write a chord symbol when the chord changes, e.g., the first four bars of this blues are a G chord. End this 12 Bar Blues by playing a G chord. Use alternate picking when playing the notes.
Know Your Guitars…
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster is one of the most famous of all electric guitars. Designed by Leo Fender and first released in 1954, the Stratocaster (commonly called a "Strat") has been used by millions of guitarists all over the world. Some of the most famous Strat players include Jimi Hendrix, Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton.
