12 Bar Blues Riffs

Lesson 2/201 | Study Time: 5 Min

Course: Guitar for Adults

12 Bar Blues Riffs

As you learned earlier in the book, 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 basis of Blues music. There have been many hit songs by artists such as Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, The Beach Boys, B.B King, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Van Halen, ZZ Top, Joe Satriani, Gary Moore, Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton which are based on this progression. Here are some well known songs which are based on 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
Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
Dizzy Miss Lizzy - The Beatles
Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry
Blue Jean Blues - ZZ Top
The Jack - AC/DC
Killing Floor - Jimi Hendrix
Ice Cream Man - Van Halen
Oh Pretty Woman - Gary Moore
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan

All guitarists must be familiar with this progression. The following 12 Bar Blues is in the key of A major. When a song or chord progression is said to be in the key of A major, it means that the most important chord (and usually the first chord) is the A 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 an A chord. End this 12 Bar Blues by playing an A chord.

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Peter Gelling and Gary Turner

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1- INTRODUCTION 2- How to Read Music 3- Notes on the First String 4- The Eighth Note 5- Notes on the Fourth String 6- Chords 7- Minor Chords 8- Rests 9- Seventh Chords 10- The Major Scale 11- The Three Four Time Signature 12- Bass Note Rhythm Patterns 13- Sharp Signs 14- Silent Strums and Continuous Rhythms 15- Flat Signs 16- Learning All the Notes 17- Playing Two Strings Together 18- Minor Keys and Scales 19- The Hammer-On 20- Suspended Chords 21- The Eighth Note Triplet 22- Sixteenth Notes 23- Sixteenth Note Rhythms 24- Major Seventh Chords 25- Minor Seventh Chords 26- Tempo Markings 27- What is a Bar Chord? 28- Root 6 Major Bar Chord 29- Root 6 Minor Bar Chord 30- The Percussive Strum 31- Root 6 Seventh Bar Chord 32- Root 5 Bar Chords 33- Root 5 Minor Bar Chord 34- Root 5 Seventh Bar Chord 35- Rock Chords 36- Dampening 37- Sixth Rock Chords - Root 6 38- Sixth Rock Chords - Root 5 39- 12 Bar Blues Riffs 40- Alternate Picking (Revision) 41- Riffs Using Ties 42- Improvising and Scales 43- The Hammer-On 44- The Slide 45- The Bend 46- Picking the Strings 47- Fingerpicking Pattern 2 48- Fingerpicking Patterns in ^ Time 49- Playing Notes Together 50- Fingerpicking Pattern 5 51- Fingerpicking Patterns in ) Time 52- Clawhammer 53- Clawhammer With Pinch 54- Classical Guitar Style 55- Tuning 56- The Chromatic Scale 57- Chord Charts 58- Transposing 59- Playing in a Band 60- Chord Formula Chart 61- Glossary of Musical Terms 62- Approach to Practice 63- Tablature 64- Count, Pick and Fingering Symbols 65- Alternate Picking 66- Notes on the Fifth String 67- Chord Symbols 68- Visualizing 69- The Lead-In 70- 12 Bar Blues 71- C Major Scale in Open Position 72- ^ Time Rhythm Patterns 73- Bass Note Rhythm Patterns In Time 74- The F Sharp Note (F#) 75- Silent Strum Symbols 76- The Note B Flat (Bb) 77- Tones and Semitones 78- Power Chords 79- The Harmonic Minor Scale 80- Add Nine Chords 81- Shuffle Rhythm 82- Bar Chord Diagrams 83- Enharmonic Notes 84- Root 6 Sixth Bar Chord 85- Root 5 Major Bar Chord 86- Sixteenth Note Rhythms 87- Root 5 Sixth Bar Chord 88- Rock Rhythms 89- Seventh Rock Chords 90- Quarter Note Riffs 91- 12 Bar Blues in A Minor 92- Rests and Syncopation 93- Improvising Pattern 1 94- The Quarter Note Triplet 95- Pattern 1 Extension 96- Licks With Bends 97- Right Hand Finger Names 98- The Slide Finger 99- Two Bar Clawhammer Pattern 100- Tuning Hints 101- Learning all the Keys 102- Song List 103- The Capo 104- Altered Chords 105- Electronic Tuner 106- Music Notation 107- Notes on the Second String 108- Ledger Lines 109- Rhythm Notation 110- Rests with Chord Playing 111- Sequences 112- The G Major Scale 113- Syncopation 114- The F Major Scale 115- Sharps 116- Movable Power Chords 117- The Melodic Minor Scale 118- Slash Chords 119- Swing Rhythm 120- The Formation of a Bar Chord 121- Riff Variation 122- Chord Progressions 123- Riffs Using Triplets 124- Position 125- Slurring 126- The Quick Slide 127- The Release Bend 128- Picking With Your Right Hand Fingers 129- Electronic Tuners 130- Key Signatures 131- Sheet Music 132- Scale Tone Chords 133- Tuning Your Guitar 134- Learning the Notes on the Staff 135- Half Notes and Whole Notes 136- Notes on the Sixth String 137- Strumming 138- Staccato 139- The Key of C Major 140- Key Signatures 141- Playing Air 142- The Chromatic Scale 143- Right Hand Damping 144- Adding Scale Tones to Chords 145- Left Hand Technique 146- Additional Riffs 147- Shuffle Riffs 148- Pattern 1 Licks 149- The Quick Hammer-on 150- Licks Using the Slide 151- Licks With Release Bends 152- Picking With Your Thumb 153- Notes on the Guitar Fretboard 154- Scales 155- Scale Tone Chord Extensions 156- Acoustic Guitars 157- Bar Lines 158- Notes on the Third String 159- Pivot and Guide Fingers 160- Flats 161- Rock Chords 162- Key Note 163- Lead Guitar Solo Number 1 164- The Quick Bend 165- Fingerpicking Pattern 1 166- Natural Notes 167- Electric Guitars 168- Time Signatures 169- The Octave 170- Accompanying a Melody 171- Enharmonic notes 172- A Rock Chord Shapes 173- Using Pattern 1 174- Lead Guitar Solo Number 2 175- Alternating Bass Notes 176- The Chromatic Scale 177- Electric Guitars (played through an amplifier) 178- Chord Symbols 179- Rhythm Patterns 180- D Rock Chord Shapes 181- Minor Pentatonic Scale 182- Jamming Progressions 183- Fingerpicking Accompaniment 184- The A Chromatic Scale 185- Amplifiers 186- Technique Symbols 187- Eighth Note Strumming Rhythms 188- E Rock Chord Shapes 189- Major Pentatonic Scale 190- 12 Bar Blues Progressions 191- The Major Scale 192- Strings 193- Twelve Bar Blues Using Rock Chords 194- Minor Key Progressions 195- Minor Keys 196- Seating 197- Major Key Progressions 198- Standing 199- Major Key Progressions 200- Right Hand and Arm Using the Pick 201- Right Arm Position

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12 Bar Blues Riffs