The Importance of Studying Blues

by on 01. Jun, 2011 in Blues, Practice Tips, Theory

Author Bio:  * Completed an honours degree in music at University of Pretoria * Currently performs in a guitar and piano duet * Played guitar Hero and nailed it first time * He is a jazz specialist * Has a wealth of knowledge in music theory * Was taught by the world famous Jonathan Crossley * Has 2 years teaching experience

As a teacher I often try to encourage my students to study Blues and its most common 12 bar progression as part of their fundamental studies as guitarists.

No matter what style you want specialize, in the importance of knowing and being able to handle Blues and its harmony and improvisation within it should never be overlooked, as it is the root of most of  contemporary music such as Rock, Funk, Soul , Jazz and R&B that we hear in present and past.

“If you don’t know the blues… there’s no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music” – Keith Richards

“The British ballads became a new kind of form in their hand. And out of them came the blues, a new kind of song of commentary and satire, a song form which, after all, has become the main musical form of the whole human species” – Alan Lomax

 The first Rock ‘n Roll songs and the start of Rock ‘n Roll music was in fact Rhythm & Blues just played at faster tempo’s, allot of the early Rock ‘n Rollers all played 12 bar blues progressions, Examples you can check of the first prominent Rock ‘n Roll artists on You tube are Bill Haleys Rock Around the Clock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjBDK35FRjo Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEq62iQo0eU  , Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFq5O2kabQo  , Elvis Presley’s Blue Suede Shoes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Ond-OwgU8  and Jerry Lee Lewis’s Whole Lotta Shakin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yRdDnrB5kM

Below is a list of a few well known musicians, many studied and played blues in their early development especially, here are some you tube links you can check out to see their blues based music!

 

 (Just to list a few, there are still many others that have not been mentioned!)

The basic 12 bar chord progression is in fact quite easy to learn and its applications are endless, hence starting a study of it will help unlock many possibilities for a guitarist and will also open up a large variety of music for a guitarist to play.

“Simple music is the hardest music to play and blues is simple music” – Albert Collins

 I inserted a table below with a basic standard blues progression and some of its variants in the Key of E, the chords are often harmonized as dominant sevenths as well! although many variants of the below harmony can be found, you can also change all the below chords to minor for a minor 12 bar blues either with triadic or quartad (Sevenths) based  harmony.

Standard Blues and Quickchange Variation

I – E I – E7 (or IV – A if it’s a Quickchange blues) I – E I – E
IV – A IV – A I – E I – E
V – B IV – A I- E I – E (or V – B used as a common basic blues turnaround)

 

This progression did evolve in Jazz as well! Below a table with a common 12 bar Jazz Blues progression.

Jazz Blues Progression

I7 – E7 IV7 –A7 I7 – E7 Vm7- Bm7 I7 – E7
IV7 – A7 #IVdim – A#dim I7 – E7 IIIm7 – G#m7 VI7 – C#7
IIm7 – F#m7 V7 – B7 IIIm7 – G#m7 (Sometimes I7 – E7) VI7 – C#7 IIm7 – F#m7 V7 – B7

 

Blues studies also helps to develop a much more powerful sense of improvisation. Once you have learnt the blues scale you pretty much ready to begin. Blues music helps musicians develop a really good feel for music as feel is one of the most important aspects of blues music.

“The blues tells a story. Every line of the blues has a meaning “- John Lee Hooker

 

“Music isn’t just learning notes and playing them, You learn notes to play to the music of your soul” – Katie Greenwood

 You can begin to start practicing improvising by focusing on practicing to create motifs on just one of the blues scale patterns, to find out more about creating and developing motifs and how to begin with this first step in developing improvisation ablities, check out Larry Carlton’s lessons on Blues motifs to get a better understanding of the concept!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcifyKlK7Bc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPAvBDgnMT4

You can follow this link to get a diagram of the five basic blues scale patterns on guitar.

http://www.myguitarworkshop.com/guitar_lessons/scales/the_minor_blues_scale_box_patterns_on_guitar_fretboard.aspx)

I hope this gives a good basic introduction to the importance of studying Blues as a Contemporary guitarist. Having the fundamental aspects of blues is important for any style and is definitely a field of study that needs to be mastered by any contemporary guitarist, regardless of what style they wish to specialize in, studying the roots is also key!

Here are some sites to check for more info on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

http://how-to-play-blues-guitar.com/blues-concepts/blues-chord-progressions-and-variations/

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-12-bar-blues-progression.htm

http://www.abclearnguitar.com/blues.html

http://www.bluesforpeace.com/blueschords.htm

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