12 Bar Blues

Lesson 3/41 | Study Time: 5 Min
Course: Beginner Rock Bass
12 Bar Blues

12 Bar Blues

12 Bar Blues is a pattern of chords which repeat 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. 12 Bar Blues is commonly used in Rock music and is the most common progression in Blues music, as well as occurring frequently in Funk, Soul and Jazz.

The following example is a typical example of a 12 Bar Blues bass line. It is played as a shuffle, which means a constant stream of swing eighth notes. Shuffles are very common in both Blues and Rock. It is common to play most of the notes on the beat staccato even though it is not notated. The expressions used in a bass line are often left up to the individual player.

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Peter Gelling

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Class Sessions

1- The Triplet 2- The Eighth Note 3- Scales 4- Understanding Chords 5- Understanding The Fretboard 6- Quarter Note Rhythms 7- Articulation and Feel 8- Sixteenth Note Rhythms 9- Slapping and Popping 10- More About Scales and Chords 11- INTRODUCTION 12- The Hammer-on (H) 13- 12 Bar Blues 14- Approach to Practice 15- Five Patterns For Arpeggios 16- Minor Chords 17- Playing in all Keys 18- Alternate Picking 19- Movable Fingering Patterns 20- Chord Symbols 21- The Slide 22- Learning the Notes 23- Syncopation 24- Bass Guitars 25- Seventh Chords 26- Root Notes 27- Applying Scale and Chord Formulas 28- Minor Scales and Keys 29- Notes on the Bass Fretboard 30- Amplifiers 31- Chords I, IV and V in all Keys 32- Passing Notes 33- How to Read Sheet Music 34- The Chromatic Scale 35- Strings 36- Left Hand Fingering 37- How to Read Music 38- Music Notation 39- Playing Position 40- The Right Hand 41- The Left Hand

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