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Chord Substitution in 12 bar blues?

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(@Anonymous)
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I have a chord progression of a 12 bar blues I found. It's E7 (022130), A7 (x0202) and B7 (x21202). I substituted an open E for the E7 and an open A for the A7. Is this still 12 bar blues form? It sounds good to me. I thought about keeping the A7 and still might.

I am taking the advice given to me and playing with my own material (sort of) and working on various blues shuffles and similar strumming patterns. This way I practice my chord changes, strumming, timing (yes I am using my drum machine on 70bpm with a shuffle beat). It's a slow shuffle feel.

Thanks


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
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Mike

There are all sorts of 12 bar blues. 12 bars simply refers to the number of measures (bars).

Most blues are played with the I, IV, an V chords, but there are many variations. The most famous form is

I/I/I/I/IV/IV/I/I/V/IV/I/V

A very nice and popular variation on this progression is

I/IV/I/I/IV/IV/I/I/V/IV/I/V

In the second measure you play the IV chord instead of the I chord. Simple.

And you can use all sorts of chords other than Major chords. 7th chords are very common, as well as 6th, and 9th chords. Many other chords are used as well.

And I am not a theory guy, but you can substitute the relative minor chord as well. There really is no rule for this, if it sounds good, it is good.

And not all blues are 12 bars. 16, 20, and 24 bar blues are common. There are even some songs with an odd number of measures. I believe Born Under a Bad Sign is 15 bars, I may be mistaken.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@mattypretends116)
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Joined: 21 years ago
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Diminished is a pretty common sub as well. Like in a quick change situation:

Beats: 1234/1234/1234/1234
Chord: E7 / Edim7 / E7 /E7

In a regular quick change, you would play the IV, but this works as well.

"Contrary to popular belief, Clapton is NOT God. The prospect that he is God probably had a large hand in driving him to drugs and booze. Thanks everyone."

-Guitar World :lol:


   
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(@Anonymous)
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Thanks guys. I like the E A B7. It sounds like an old love song from the 50's. I hace some chorus and slap echo and a tiny bit of flange to create the sound of the 50's. Now I just need a simple turn-around and an intro. Any suggestions for chords (keeping in mind this is a SIMPLE song to stimulate growth in my playing, confidence in my ability.

Thanks


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Mike

Here is a Jazz site with the basic 12 bar blues, but then some very interesting variations on it.

http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazz_blues_chord_progressions.html

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@Anonymous)
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Mike

Here is a Jazz site with the basic 12 bar blues, but then some very interesting variations on it.

http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazz_blues_chord_progressions.html

THANKS Wes! That is a nice site. I like the first progression F7 Bb7 C7. I am going for the 50's style music right now. Kind of like Happy Days when the band would play a slow song and Chachi would try to make out with Joanie! :lol:


   
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(@misanthrope)
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Thanks guys. I like the E A B7. It sounds like an old love song from the 50's. I hace some chorus and slap echo and a tiny bit of flange to create the sound of the 50's. Now I just need a simple turn-around and an intro. Any suggestions for chords (keeping in mind this is a SIMPLE song to stimulate growth in my playing, confidence in my ability.

ThanksJust a quick question - do you play your B7 as x024242 or as x21202 ? I learned the second a long time after I was getting into 12 bar blues, and I always wished someone had shown me it earlier. It's a bugger to finger, but it sounds so much better (to my ear at least) and it's good fingering practice :) Give it a shot if you don't use it already...

ChordsAndScales.co.uk - Guitar Chord/Scale Finder/Viewer


   
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(@Anonymous)
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Thanks guys. I like the E A B7. It sounds like an old love song from the 50's. I hace some chorus and slap echo and a tiny bit of flange to create the sound of the 50's. Now I just need a simple turn-around and an intro. Any suggestions for chords (keeping in mind this is a SIMPLE song to stimulate growth in my playing, confidence in my ability.

ThanksJust a quick question - do you play your B7 as x024242 or as x21202 ? I learned the second a long time after I was getting into 12 bar blues, and I always wished someone had shown me it earlier. It's a bugger to finger, but it sounds so much better (to my ear at least) and it's good fingering practice :) Give it a shot if you don't use it already...

Look at my original post.... :wink:


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Mike

If you like 50's music you need to learn the I, VIm, IV, V progression. Literally thousands of songs were written in this exact progression. It was the sound of the 50's.

Some common keys:

C, Am, F, G
G, Em, C, D
A, F#m, D, E
D, Bm, G, A
E, C#m, A, B

and of course you can use variations on those chords, you could play C, Am7, F, G7 for instance. Or you could substitute the relative minor of F, so you would have C, Am7, Dm7, G7 for instance. The possibilities are pretty endless.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@Anonymous)
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Mike

If you like 50's music you need to learn the I, VIm, IV, V progression. Literally thousands of songs were written in this exact progression. It was the sound of the 50's.

Some common keys:

C, Am, F, G
G, Em, C, D
A, F#m, D, E
D, Bm, G, A
E, C#m, A, B

and of course you can use variations on those chords, you could play C, Am7, F, G7 for instance. Or you could substitute the relative minor of F, so you would have C, Am7, Dm7, G7 for instance. The possibilities are pretty endless.

Thanks for that Wes! I will try these tomorrow (bit late now). It's funny with the slap echo, chorus, and flange using the 12 bar blues was VERY close to 50's sounding. I felt like I was at the sock hop! Plus if I am not mistaken 50's music just used a basic Dudu Dudu strum with emphasis on the first downstrum.

Thanks


   
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(@doug_c)
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Don't forget that GN's own David Hodge did a three-part series on blues structure beginning in January 2001, as some of the earliest lessons in the Easy Songs For Beginners:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=47
https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=49
https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=54


   
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(@pvtele)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 477
 

Mike

Here is a Jazz site with the basic 12 bar blues, but then some very interesting variations on it.

http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazz_blues_chord_progressions.html

Nice site, Wes, very handy for reference 8) Many thanks for the link - I hadn't seen the site before.

(the other) Mike


   
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(@misanthrope)
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Posts: 2261
 

Look at my original post.... :wink:Sorry, must've missed that. I'll go stand in the corner :oops:

ChordsAndScales.co.uk - Guitar Chord/Scale Finder/Viewer


   
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(@ignar-hillstrom)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5349
 

Let me add a cheap trick to come up with some chords. Let's just use four type of chords:

1) The tonic (That's the C chord if you play in C)
2) Dominant chords (the V and VIIdim, in C respectively G and Bdim)
3) Pre-dominants (the ii and IV, in C either Dm and F)
4) Other diatonic chords (iii, vi, in C Em and Am)

So now we've got seven chords divided into four groups. Now you can just build your own progression using the following Secret Formula: Tonic -> Other diatonic chord -> Pre-dominant -> Dominant.

Examples in C:

C - Am - F - G (see Wes' post)
C - Em - Dm - Bdim
C - Am - F - G
etc etc.

It works, ofcourse, in all progressions. Check it out and you'll find most modern popsongs follow this principle.


   
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(@ricochet)
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Yeah, thanks for the I, VIm, IV, V progression idea, Wes! Sounds terrific on a Hammond, too! :D

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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