Harmonized Blues Shuffle in A?

And of course with a little bit more elbow grease it figures I find This on Olav's site! :oops: :oops:

I guess this would be the progression used with the full chords correct?

Thanks again

The important thing in a 12-bar blues form is the roots, which go I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-(V)

You can use major chords for I & IV, or minor chords for a minor blues. The V is pretty much always a V7, unless you're just doing power chords.

You can really dress up the progression beyond that. It's common to use 7ths for more of the chords, as in I-I-I-I7-IV... you can even use all sevenths for the entire progression.

The strumming pattern is the same - do what feels good. A 12-bar blues is a basic form, like a 32 bar AABA song structure - it's just an outline. Fill it in with whatever you'd like, and it's still the blues :)

Thanks Noteboat...right now I am just looking for a starting point, similar to what I did with my soloing. I found a basic blues lick or 2 and then just played with it. I would like to do the same with the harmonized shuffle as well.

I always get confused as to WHERE to insert the V7 (or any other 7th). Does it matter what measure I insert it? Where IN the measure does it usally go? Etc.

Thanks

Well, you can put the 7th in a lot of places. You can alternate chords in one measure:

C-C7-C-C7 etc.

You can use a 7th for a full measure:

C-C-C-C7 (one bar each)

Or you can substitute a 7th like any other chord. For instance, you can put a beat of V7 in at the end of the IV part to lead back into I.

There really aren't hard rules - if you follow the basic format, blues leaves lots of room for experimentation.

Well, you can put the 7th in a lot of places. You can alternate chords in one measure:

C-C7-C-C7 etc.

You can use a 7th for a full measure:

C-C-C-C7 (one bar each)

Or you can substitute a 7th like any other chord. For instance, you can put a beat of V7 in at the end of the IV part to lead back into I.

There really aren't hard rules - if you follow the basic format, blues leaves lots of room for experimentation.

That's amazing that this style ever developed without the structure of most genres...it's funny, they used cheap guitars, didn't have many rules and the Blues is probably some of the most popular music around and has influenced many other genres!

thanks

Great topic Mike. I was at my lesson last night and I told the teacher that we were going back to the blues and theory till I get it right. We got off track again and I didn't feel I was really learning.

We work on a 12 bar that mostly had 7th in it. Has a very jazzy tone. G7 C7 A/B and one more I can't remember

OK....here is where I am confused...If you look at Olav's version in the Key of E he is still getting the "shuffle sound" by changing to another chord even though the tab says he is still playing the E chord?

In the Key of A I gave above where to I switch to? It vsounds plain just staying on the A chord for 4 measures then the D for 2, etc...

How do I fet the shuffle effect? I got the strumming down but I know I should be doing something else with my left hand?

Thanks

OK...I worked something out...I used all barre chords here (A7 D9 E9)..I had to modify the D9 & E9 to make it easier to play but I think it still sounds the same...

I am not sure if this a shuffle or a boogie. I got it from my Guitar for Dummies book. It is done with triplets...

My chord changes aren't the best but I want to make sure i am practicing this right. The progression is: A7 (for 2 triplets) D9 (for 2 triplets) A7 (4 triplets) D9 (4 triplets) E9 (2 triplets) D9 (2 triplets) A7 (2 triplets)..Sorry I didn't know how else to write this!

Suggestions welcomed!

Harmonized Shuffle

mikespe that is still a 12 bar blues and is the way I play it ;

ADAA
DDAA
EDAE

I like that form better b/c it breaks up that long stretch of A's. The "power chord" version is done in triplets also, there is a rest for the middle note of each triplet, that is what gives it the shuffle feel.

mikespe that is still a 12 bar blues and is the way I play it ;

ADAA
DDAA
EDAE

I like that form better b/c it breaks up that long stretch of A's. The "power chord" version is done in triplets also, there is a rest for the middle note of each triplet, that is what gives it the shuffle feel.

Yes I know it still the 12 bar blues but I wasn't sure if it was a "boogie" or "shuffle". I do like the sound of it MUCH better than the power chord version even though it is more difficult to play. I tried using open chords but it was tough muting the strings to achieve the rhythm...

Are you using open chords for this and if so how do you get the "shuffle" feel?

Thanks

Okay... so they're not triplets if you strum 4 times.

Triplets are usually strummed either down-down-down (more of a rock feel) or down-up-down (bit more vintage blues). The DDD form is easier when you're trying to just get the rhythm in your bones. (kind of dah-da-duh, if that helps in any way what-so-ever)
They also have this feel where the first note lasts oh-so-very-slightly longer then the 2nd.

It becomes a shuffle when you keep the timing for the 1st and 3rd strum, but leave out the middle of the triplet. This is most always done as a down-down. The resultant sound is kind of dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh (now thats just what it sounds like in my head). It's like a heartbeat, if lub-dub means anything to you.

Boogie is, I believe, more of a chord progression in a shuffle form like A5 A6 A5 A6 D5 D6 D5 D6 A5, etc. There could be more to it than that, however.

Hi mike

regarding blues:

if it is twelve bar

I play it I_I_I_I_IV_IV-I-I-V_IV-I_I

otherwise I play I-IV-I-I-IV_IV-I-I-V_IV-I_V

if it is a regular E blues, the chords are E;A;B, if it is with 7hts the chords will be E7, A7, B7

regarding the pattern I use (in term of beats)

B/du/B/D

or B/du/b/du

the shuffle effect is where I play the du strums and since this means that the first note (the downstrum) is roughly twice as long as the second one (the upstrum), to obtain it, after the downstrum I play a small circle under the string with my right hand before strumming up

the resulting sound for pattern one is something like...tum- taaaa--ta-tum-ta

or tum taaaa-ta tum taaaa-ta

for the second one

Hope my explanation is not too messy

Matteo