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The Importance of Studying Blues

The importance of studying blues and its most common 12 bar progression as part of their fundamental studies as guitarists, cannot be emphasized enough!

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. 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

It All Started Here

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 YouTube 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

Blues Listeners List Part 1

Blues Listeners List Part 2

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

The 12 Bar Blues

A basic 12 bar chord progression is in fact quite easy to learn and its applications are endless. 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 Quick Changing Variations

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

Larry Carlton’s Blues Motif Lessons

You can begin to start practicing improvising by focusing on practicing to create motifs on just one of the blues scale patterns. In order to find out more about creating and developing motifs check out the master Larry Carlton. This is the first step in developing improvisation abilities.

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. It 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.

The Importance of Studying Blues

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

* 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

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