V-IV-! Transition

Hello Jimmy. "Walk with Me" is an 8 Bar Blues. The Improvising Studies on the site are based on 12 Bar Blues. Though an 8 Bar Blues can have a V-IV-I, it's not always the case. 12 Bar Blues are much more common.

This may lead you to ask, "why would Dave choose a form that isn't as common as our fist song?" Simply put, a new player can sound better in an 8 Bar Blues due to the form being little more active... the player doesn't have to do as much... the band does more.

"I see how the '2nd, 3rd & 4th bar' are like the '9th, 10th & 11th bar'. "
Yes, this is correct.

"So I assume most/all proper form songs must repeat the same notes and timing which occurs in the 2nd, 3rd & 4th bars, and be SAME AS the 9th, 10th & 11th bars. Right??"
I think yes, I'm not 100% sure the way you worded it, so let's modify it as...

"So I assume most/all blues songs repeat the same notes and timing which occurs in the 2nd, 3rd & 4th bars of your V-IV-I example page, and be the SAME AS the 9th, 10th & 11th bars within any 12 Bar Form. Right??"

To be as clear as possible... In blues, which is usually 12 Bars in form, the form repeats until the song ends. Within the 12 Bar Blues the V-IV-I only happens in ONE area... bars 9, 10 and 11. In my lesson examples, where you see the sameV-IV-I, you can lift those out and in most cases they will fit in other songs (sometimes the tempo, feel of the song and other factors make it not always work, but it does most the time). I placed a bar preceding each example due to the fact that many V-IV-I's have pickups.

I look forward to hearing your submission!

Alright... we're getting there. The answer is no... you do not take cars 2, 3 and 4 because that is the I7 Chord. Bar's 9, 10 and 11 are the V7 Chord, then IV7 Chord and finally the I7 Chord. So, in "Gary's Blues," in bars 9, 10 and 11, you can take that lick and use it as bars 9, 10 and 11 in the song "Temperature."

Good morning Jimmy. Let's start from the top so that there's no confusion, because right now there's a lot...

When we speak of theory on the site we use a C Major Diatonic Harmonica. This harmonica produces the notes: C D E F G A B C. For blues we commonly play in 2nd Position, so we play in the Key of G. The key of G uses the following notes for its construction: G A B C D E F# (F-sharp) G.

If playing by ourselves, we can play those G A B C D E F# G notes in any order, in any rhythm, we wish, to create what we feel sounds good.

When we play with other musicians we follow a form so that we're all on the same page. There are chordal instruments and melody instruments.

We are commonly the melody instrument, playing the G A B C D E F# G notes.

The chordal instruments make chords from the notes in the Key of G (the same scale: G A B C D E F# G). A chord is built in thirds. If I want to play a I (one) Chord, I start on the 1st note of the scale, G in this case, and build in 3rds. This gives me the notes of G B D. This three-note chord is the most common construction of a chord (we'll add more notes soon). The I Chord is the most important chord because it is the home chord... the place of rest.

The IV Chord (four chord) is also very common, and is constructed by starting on the 4th note (C) and is also constructed in 3rds... creating the chord C E G. The same principle is used for the V Chord, which is D F# A.

The 12 Bar Blues is road map if you will of where these chords are placed. The I Chord (the notes G B D) is played for 4 bars (also known as measures), this equals 16 beats. The IV Chord is then a departure for two bars (the notes C E G) and then resolves back to the I Chord for two bars (G B D). In blues we commonly think in four-bar lines or phrases, so we just played the first and second lines. We're now on the last (third line), the V-IV-I you're looking to understand better. The V Chord (D F# A) is for one bar, then the IV Chord (C E G) is one bar, and then the I Chord is for about a bar and a half (depending on how the turnaround is played) and the last couple of beats are the V Chord again to create what we know as the turnaround.

This is the 12 Bar Blues as we commonly know it (yes, it can change).

The laws of music require that we match with the other musicians. If I, the guitarist, am playing the note B and you, the harmonica player, are playing C, it will not sound good... we are not in "harmony" with each other.

So, here is the basics of melodic theory, as it pertains to a soloist...

On the I Chord (G B D), you will match if you play G B or D on your harmonica. This is holes 1, 2/3+, 3, 4 and 6+ for example. Okay... they play G B D... you play G B D... all is good. You are playing what are called non-actice notes... they match... they're pretty... you should mostly use these notes because they match. ONLY using these notes will sound boring.

If you also play the notes of the scale (G A B C D E F# G) it will bring some interest in. If you play G for example, and then use the note from the scale "A" to use as a passing tone to "B," a chord tone, this is the most common way to bring interest into a melody. The Chord Tones (G B D) are the most important, and if you hold on a note, it should be a chord tone... use the other note of the scale to move you around and create interest. You COULD, and we DO, HOLD notes of the scale outside of the chord... but be aware that they will be DISSONANT and will need to be resolved to a Chord Tone. These NON-CHORD TONES are known as ACTIVE TONES due to the fact that they are dissonant and actively seek to be resolved.

There is still one more level... the level that makes blues what it is... the OUTSIDE TONE. An Outside Tone is not of the chord (G B D in our example), and not of the scale of the chord (A C E F#... what we called "Active Tones")... they are OUTSIDE the scale... or outside what we commonly call the "Key" of the song, which in our example is the KEY OF G (the notes G A B C D E F# G). Some of these Outside Tones are the notes that make the Blues Scale. So, if G B D is the chord, and the notes of the scale other than those notes (A C E F#) are the active tones, then everything else are Outside Tones (G#/Ab, A#/Bb, C#/Db, D#/Eb and F). These notes AGGRESSIVELY seek to be resolved and should be used springy, like a strong spice... in the right moderation... and used in combination with the right ingredients... can be VERY exciting. If used in the wrong way, it can make your music sound awful. This is why in the first five years of our woodsheding years we copy, copy, copy... we're at the lower level of the mastery tree and don't know how to create great phrases, so we copy those that do.

Alright... let's recap...

I have now defined the scale you play (G A B C D E F# G) when playing your C Harmonica in 2nd Position. I have defined the three chord used in blues... the I Chord (G B D), IV Chord (C E G) and V Chord (D F# A). I have given you an example for the hierarchy of which notes should be played to match over a given chord for melodic purposes (the I Chord in this example) and the notes that can be played to ad interest (Active Tones and Outside Tones). Let me stress before we move on that you're in the beginning stages of improvising, so you want to focus on Chord Tones (G B D for the I Chord), they have the highest probability of matching, and you want "safe" at this stage in the game.

Okay, now I can answer your questions...

The V (D F# A), IV (C E G) I (G B D) chord progression, is ONLY found in ONE place within the 12 Bar Blues Progression... bars 9, 10 and resolving on bar 11. Simply stated, the more you use of the chord tones, the cooler you sound. The more advanced the player, the mote they use of the chord. So, for the V Chord you're playing a lot of (but not exclusively) D F# and A notes. For the IV Chord you're playing a lot of (but not exclusively) C E and G notes. For the I Chord we commonly play one note, that's it... the root note of the I Chord, G (2/3+ 6+ 9+). The job of bar 11 is to resolve what's been played in bars 9 and 10. After the downbeat of bar 11 we're in Turnaround territory.

So, dump everything from your mind in regards to this area of the 12 Bar Blues... get rid of it... replace it with this last paragraph.

When I hear a cool V-IV-I lick... for example... the V-IV-I lick from "Gary's Blues" in the 4th Chorus is super-cool. I can learn it and use it whenever the V-IV-I (again, bars 9, 10 and 11 within the 12 Bar Blues) comes around when playing to the 12 Bar Blues (jam track or band). Don't read into this any further... they played a cool lick over bars 9, 10 and 11... I can steel that lick and use it any time... or every time if I wish... bars 9, 10 and 11 come around when soloing.

I think you're getting hung up on the way I notate this in the Improvising Study 4 PDF. The four bars you see in each example ARE NOT bars 1 through 4 in the blues progression... they represent bars 8 through 11. This is designated by the chord above each example... again, this only happens in ONE place in the 12 Bar Blues, so there was no need for me to go into further details. In this case it created a brain lock for you... that of course happens to all of us time to time.

In regards to the "7" designation. I'll go into detail on this in the theory lessons, of which I'm working on right now. Simply stated, the 7 designation states that a note is present a 7th above the root of the chord. If you have a G Chord... G B D. G is the root, B is the 3rd (because in the G Scale, which is G A B... B is the third note from G) and D is the 5th. The 7th would be F#, and is lowered for bluesy affect to F. This gives us a G B D F, or quickly notated as a G7 Chord, or in our case I7 Chord. I said "simply" if you know some basic music theory... but what I just said sends most students' heads spinning... I understand this, and is the reason I don't talk much about it. This will all be cleared up for those who are interested in the theory lessons.

I do recommend the book Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Complete.

Get the Alfred music theory book... you need a base of understanding. Don't skip any steps... that's dangerous when it comes to theory.

I recommend you focus on the Bending and Tongue Blocking study songs... work on them and send recordings of you playing them to me as you finish them. I don't recommend you enter any of the song writing contests until you've completed study songs 1 through 4 in both lesson series.

I'm happy to help... just take your time and enjoy the journey... you'll get there.

Yes. This is why I don't stress theory on the site.