The 12 bar blues forms
Mon, 12/03/2018 - 08:47
Hi David,I came across a problem when studying the 12 bar blues progression. So ususally, the 12 bar blues structure goes by the below patten.
The first 4 bars just use the I chord - I, I, I, I.
The middle 4 bars go IV, IV, I, I.
And the last 4 bars go V, IV, I, VHowever, when I am studying the "My Blues Bending Song Example #4",I just cant't make sense of the why the stucture goes from V, IV, I, IV, V. It looks to me have to do with the song starting from the V (Five Chord). But it just looks so different from the sequence I'm familiar with.It would be much apperaciated if anyone can explain the 12 bar blues varioations. Thanks!
Hello ngtungyi, good question.
Yes, you are correct, the song does start from the V (an intro that uses the last four bars of the 12 bar blues form).
There are two things you may have not seen before in regards to small changes to the 12 bar form so far.
Bars 11 and 12, instead of I (~six beats) to the V (~2 beats) also has a IV and I in there. This turnaround is common for slow blues. This has the I for 2 beats, IV for 2 beats (this is bar 11), the I for two beats, and V for two beats (bar 12). You can play your standard turnaround licks, but more experienced improvisers will explore the nuanced differences.
The other change is pretty typical in the blues, and that's bar 2. In bar 2 you see a IV chord. This is called a quick change. Again, most players just play over it, as if it were a I, but more experienced players (especially because of the slow nature of the song... there's more time on the chord), will use more notes relative to the IV to make it match the band even better.
Sorry for not mentioning it, but I try to avoid too much theory talk in the beginning and intermediate levels. These changes to the form are covered in Music Theory Study 6 if you would like to watch that lesson.