12 Bar Blues

Lesson 2/52 | Study Time: 5 Min
Course: Keyboard
12 Bar Blues

12 Bar Blues

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. 12 Bar Blues is commonly used in Rock music and is the basis of most Blues music. Some popular Rock and Roll songs which use this 12 bar chord pattern are:

  • Original Batman T.V. Theme
  • Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
  • Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley
  • Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry
  • Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley
  • In The Mood - Glen Miller
  • Shake, Rattle and Roll - Bill Haley
  • Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
  • Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
  • Dizzy Miss Lizzy - The Beatles
  • Surfin’ U.S.A. - The Beach Boys
  • Good Golly Miss Molly - Little Richard

Here is a 12 Bar Blues in the key of G major. This pattern of chords will probably sound familiar to you.

Here is another 12 Bar Blues, this time in the key of C. Notice the use of the Bbnote.

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Peter Gelling

Peter Gelling

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Class Sessions

1- The G Major Scale 2- The Bass Staff 3- The Dotted Quarter Note 4- Minor Chords 5- INTRODUCTION 6- Arpeggios 7- The Notes A, B and C 8- The Three Four Time Signature 9- Sharp Signs 10- The Quarter Rest 11- Chords 12- The Notes Middle C, D and E 13- Flat Signs 14- 12 Bar Blues 15- APPENDICES 16- Glossary of Musical Terms 17- Key Signatures 18- Five Finger Positions 19- Higher C Position 20- Broken Chords 21- The F Major Scale 22- Accidentals 23- The Keyboard 24- Playing Chords with the Right Hand 25- Approach to Practice 26- The C Major Scale 27- The Tie 28- The Lead-in 29- Seventh Chords 30- Playing Scales With Both Hands 31- Easy Chord Table 32- How to Sit at the Keyboard 33- Enharmonic Notes 34- Practicing Scales 35- Legato 36- The Octave 37- Electronic Keyboards 38- Changing Chords 39- Songs With Chords 40- Hand Shape 41- Chord Charts 42- Key of C Major 43- Music Notes 44- Major Chord Chart 45- Notes on the Keyboard 46- Minor Chord Chart 47- How to Read Music 48- Seventh Chord Chart 49- Note and Rest Values 50- Minor Seventh Chord Chart 51- Augmented Chord Chart 52- New Topic

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