Common blues chord progressions guitar pdf

This video lesson contains 11 essential blues chord progressions and variations. Blues guitar chords can be any major chords used to play blues in any key, but some, like e and a, sound more bluesy than others. Blues is one of my favorite musical genres, in part, because it is very easy to teach to beginners. It begins with an easy level that explains the basic and when goes into more advanced concepts and various areas like 12 bar blues progressions. This is a twelvebar chord progression repeated over and over. This has to be one of the coolest blues progressions ever. For example, if were working on a c scale, that means the i chord is the c major chord. The standard 12bar blues is a iivv chord progression most typically divided into three fourbar segments. The 10 best blues guitar chords chord progressions, 12. Bear in mind that there are no set rules on which chords you can play, but there are staple chords that have defined the blues sound for over century. Using mostly three finger chords beautiful guitar music can be made.

Trust me, it will make more sense after a few weeks. If you know that please mister postman is based on a 50s cliche progression in a, this is much easier to remember than the individual chords. Two of the most common 12 bar patterns or arrangements are the slow change and the fast change. Download the guitar chord progressions chart printable pdf as seen above what are guitar chord progressions. Oct 10, 2019 to get started, this segment will dole out the skinny on the core of most every chord in blues progressions. The most common chord progressions global guitar network. The chord shape and guitar tuning plays a big part too.

Chord progressions learn common chord sequences and how to expand them. Heres an example of how a common blues progression. Roman numerals indicate the quality of the chord i. In the next progression, we will insert a common substitution over the ii chord in bars 9 and 12. Plus, it often adds diminished chords, for example a half. The 12 bar blues progression is the foundation of the blues. Jun 25, 2011 so now anytime youre in front of a lead guitar player you are cool, confident and prepared because youve mastered these 3 juicy blues chord progressions. Blues progressions are almost exclusively played in 44 time and dominated by the root i chord, with the iv and v chords providing that extra bit of flavor to keep things interesting. Download for free our guitar chord chart pdf now when approaching songs and chord progressions on guitar, it is useful to know how the music keys work. Most blues chord progressions are 12 bars long, although there are also 8, 14, 16, 24 or more bar blues changes. Countless songsin many stylesare based on this structure. The first is the 1 4 5 or iivv, the second is the 1 5 6 4 or ivviiv, and the third is the 2 5 1 iivi. This combination of chords is one of the most commonly used progressions in a. Blues chord progressions 12, 8 and 16 bar examples.

This is commonly written in roman numerals like below. Blues if often played with a 12 bar structure, a socalled 12 bar blues. Get the guitarists big black book designed by truefire for the practicing musician. Many common chord progressions follow the circle of fifths see circle of fifths article although going in an anti clockwise direction where the chords go up a fourth or in other words down of fifth, two, five, one progression. Olav torvunds chord progressions for guitar a very positive side effect is that it becomes easier to remember songs. The first thing youll need to remember is that for every chord progression, there is a root note, also known as the tonic. In todays lesson, im going to walk you through 4 different important blues chord progressions. These easy, common patterns are good for acoustic guitar, rock, or simple practice sessions. Then you can get familiar with common open and moveable chord forms and create your own blues guitar style. It is very similar to the basic 12 bar blues, with the only difference being the quick change to the iv chord in the 2nd measure. The most important notes in a 7th chord are the 3 rd and the 7 th intervals as measured from the root note of the chord. The most common blues structure is the 12bar blues. The term chord progression refers to a succession of tones or chords played in a particular order for a. Even a guitar newbie can learn and play basic blues at an early stage.

E major is the most common blues key on guitar, so you could think of e7 as the 1 chord, a7 as the 4 chord and b7 as the 5 chord. Blues music is a relatively easy genre to absorb and the guitar is an excellent instrument in this style. Looking for a guitar chord fingerings reference pdf. The iivi progression the iivi progression is a signature progression in jazz. Threechord progressions beethoven imagined composing his pastoral symphony threechord tunes, though, are more common, since a melody may then dwell on any note of the scale. The most common chord progressions and how to tweak them. If you want to become a great jazz improviser, you have to understand jazz harmony. The 12bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. There are quite a few other simple, wellknown progressions that arent included in this chart, but worth mentioning. The blues progression has a distinctive form in chord structure and duration. Mar 03, 2017 the blues is most commonly a 12 bar form, though you can find tunes with different variations. Jan 31, 2017 knowing common chord progressions provides you the means of playing with other chording instruments like keyboards, banjos, mandolins, and even the bass guitar, which also has to be familiar with chord progressions. The 12 bar blues is a popular chord progression that, at its root, consists of i, iv, and. Common variations of 12 bar blues chord progressions guitar.

Jazz often uses the staple blues chord progressions from above as the foundation and embellishes them by adding other chords from the diatonic scale, such as the 2 and 6 chords. I call these popular chord progressions the money chords. Few chords, no matter how pretty they sound in isolation, are played that way in actual songs. I hope youve found these 5 jazz blues progressions helpful. May 29, 2014 the number of chord progressions you can create is virtually endless. Jazz blues progressions are very common in jazz music however, there. The major scales notes lay out the root notes for the chords used in a major key.

For the purposes of our lesson today, were going to use c as our root, exploring several chord progressions in this key. There are 8 and 16 bar blues progressions, but by far 12 bar is the most common. As you can see, all other parts of the progression are exactly the same as the basic 12 bar blues. The 10 best blues guitar chords chord progressions, 12 bar. This pdf method for guitar contains 40 ii v i jazz guitar lines with tab. Two of the most common 12 bar patterns or arrangements are the.

The chord in the second measure of this progression is also a surprise since its a iii7chord. The dominant 7th chord is the most common used chord in blues. On your music journey so far you have moved from pitches, to scales, to intervals, making chords, and now we come to the next step to include in our guitar practice routine. In jazz, the smallest chords used are usually 7 th chords, e. There are many different 12 bar blues forms though. These numbers refer to the chords in a certain key, so be aware that every major key has seven chords you can choose from that occur naturally in that key. Jazz customarily adds the appropriate sevenths so, in jazz, the progression would be dm7g7cmaj7.

Thats because they sound great and lend themselves to catchy melody writing. There is an actual mathematical explanation as to why its such a pleasant chord progression. Chords and chord progressions in blues guitar chord. This is the crux of a dominant 7th chord, which is the backbone tonality of these 23 progressions. Jan 07, 2019 the 2nd most famous blues chord progression is the quick change, also called quickfour. The 27 best guitar chord progressions, complete with charts.

Sep 01, 2016 in its most often imitated form, a blues chord progression can be built by using chords built on the 1st, 4th, and 5th degrees of any given major scale, producing a 12 bar blues progression in that key. When approaching songs and chord progressions on guitar, it is useful to know how the music keys work. Sep 28, 2011 the chord in the second measure of this progression is also a surprise since its a iii7chord. Chord progression handbook ku scholarworks university of. Guitar chord charts poster, has the seven basic guitar chords with their fingerings. For example, in the key of c minor, the halfdiminished ii chord is spelled. A key is a group of chords based the major scale or natural minor scale. Guitar lesson with audio, tabs and standard notation about the 14 most essential and popular chord progressions in jazz. Adding in fingerpicking techniques the music made can be striking.

The following is a list of commonly used chord progressions in music play help info. Feel free to come back as often as you need and reread the theory. The number of chord progressions you can create is virtually endless. Chord progressions and what you need to know guitar tricks blog. Anyone playing andor teaching guitar needs staff paper, blank tab, guitar chord charts, guitar scale charts, and fretboard diagrams to chart their guitar lessons and musical ideas. The i is the root note of the chord, followed by the 4th and 5th scale degrees of the scale. This progression is made up of 12 measures and is based on the iivv chords of a key.

Plus, it often adds diminished chords, for example a half step up from the 4 chord position e. Being able to play the blues is a great tool for guitar players and musicians in general to get together, jam, explore, evolve and have a great time. Here you will learn many 12 bar blues progressions, from the most basic ones to more complex. Please be sure to follow the material as it appears. In example 1 below, a 12 bar blues progression is shown in the key of g, using open position dominant 7th chords, the type of chord. In its most often imitated form, a blues chord progression can be built by using chords built on the 1st, 4th, and 5th degrees of any given major scale, producing a 12 bar blues progression in that key. To get started, this segment will dole out the skinny on the core of most every chord in blues progressions. However, there are certain ones that keep popping up over and over. Instead of playing the dm7b5 chord each time the ii chord comes around, we will play its tritone substitution ab7 instead the ab7 chord resolves smoothly down by a halfstep to the g7alt chord that follows it each time it is played. Oct 23, 2014 the dominant 7th chord is the most common used chord in blues. The short and concentrated guide the musthave chords in blues. This progression is also common in turnarounds, which are typically the final 12 bars of a blues or jazz tune before returning to the beginning called the head in jazz lingo. Here starts a blues course for guitar that include several lessons. For the purist, most blues chords add 7ths, but 9ths and ths can be used as well.

You will need a lot of practice to play like bb king, but playing basic blues progressions are easy. Chord progressions 101 written by nathan wilson ebook outline the following outline is a listing of all material associated within this ebook. In this guitar lesson, i am going to show you how to play and organize chords. To play blues guitar, first you have to know the basics of guitar in general, which means identifying the parts of a guitar and being able to translate a chord diagram. Knowing common chord progressions provides you the means of playing with other chording instruments like keyboards, banjos, mandolins, and even the bass guitar, which also has to be familiar with chord progressions.

Other common blues progressions include the 8 bar, 16bar, and 24bar blues. Take your time with these progressions, and make sure to create a few of your own. This chord progression is incredibly simple because it uses just three chords i, iv, and v but it has infinite possibilities for melodic improvisation. Choosing the right blues chords can make your blues rhythm playing sound fresh and full of color. Guitar keys chart free pdf chart with chords in major and minor keys. Below, youll learn seven of the most common piano chord progressions from jazz, gospel, blues, and more. The blues is most commonly a 12 bar form, though you can find tunes with different variations. If you learn a few open position 7th chords, you can play the blues. The traditional 12bar blues has a total of 12 bars or measures of the iivv chords that keep repeating in 12bar blocks over and over. Chord progressions the best free chord progression lessons on the web the recipe for music is part melody, lyric, rhythm, and harmony chord progressions. The following is one of the most basic blues progressions.

The term chord progression refers to a succession of tones or chords played in a particular order for a specified duration that harmonizes with the melody. Knowing chord progressions by genre makes you that much more versatile and wellrounded a musician. The iivi come from the roman numerals used to notate chord functions within a key. Blues music most times has a distinct sound and many recognize it by the wellknown 12bar blues progression. But also the ninth and thirteenth chords are found regularly in blues music to give that extra flavor to a chord progression. The tonic chord of a blues is a dominant 7 chord, a fact that doesnt fit very well in traditional music theory.

It is, at its most basic, based on the iivv chords of a key. When you write it down, it looks like something like that. Beautiful simple guitar chord progressions the purpose of beautiful simple guitar chord progressions is to present guitar mechanisms as simply as possible. Common variations of 12 bar blues chord progressions. The first chords to learn if you want to get a bluesy guitar sound are those that give another color to the sound than the usual major. To help better understand the following example, i would recommend taking a read through the learning guitar scales and guitar chords posts. For a comping lesson with all of these progressions, refer to the jazz guitar blues comping page w video and pdf. The i iv v chord progression is one of the most common chord progressions in music. In this study, well use chord voicings known as shell voicings. So now anytime youre in front of a lead guitar player you are cool, confident and prepared because youve mastered these 3 juicy blues chord progressions.

Lets start off with the most common blues progression. Now that weve seen 3 of the four most common jazz progressions, lets take a look at the final progression which occurs in minor keys. Olav torvunds chord progressions for guitar olav torvunds guitar pages chord progressions book of the month january 2005 happy traum. Common progressions numbering iivv 145 ivviiv 1564 iivi 251 tips. Often the chords may be selected to fit a preconceived melody, but just as often. Lets take a look at a few that have stood the test of time. This might be the most popular chord progression in western pop music. When it come to jazz improvisation, i have a special rule. These are constructed of a major triad as in the table below and then adding a minor 7th on the top 10 semitones. It is very common in blues music to add 7ths to the major chords giving that classic blues sound. The 12 most important fingerpicking guitar exercises you. Blues guitar chords comprehensive blues chord chart. Guitar chord progressions use different combinations of guitar chords from the same key to create a song structure. Blues progressions come in all shapes and colors, but there are a few very common variations of the basic 12 bar blues that all guitar players should know.