What is the rationale behind composing a 12 bar blues. An introduction to blues turnarounds, intros and endings. It doesnt take up too much lesson time, and students will. In this tutorial we create a solo arrangement for georgia on my mind applying the major blues scale with some soulful licks and riffs. Once you can play the 12 bar blues in a all the way through, picking with the occasional strum, then you can start to mix it up. Im so glad my spring recital is over, but this month is still somehow very booked. In order to learn about the 12 bar blues we first have to discuss the development of the blues. The minor pentatonic scale can be used over a 12 bar blues. Its called the 12 bar blues because its only 12 bars long. Instead of having a few different things to try in this lesson, we are going to learn a written. An introduction to blues turnarounds, intros and endings by scott blanchard. This means that if you know the root note or chord, you can construct the rest of the 12 bar blues progression as well.
The 12 bar blues progression with slight variations basslines improvisation scales how to practice improvising improvising techniques. So every note a trumpet player plays, the actual sound is 2half steps below that. Lets take a closer look at how its constructed and what makes it work so well. In the basic f blues, the 12 bars are only made up of 3 different chords. The blues chord progression lasts 12 bars thus the phrase 12 bar blues that move in a familiar pattern using those three chords. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth. A simple one is just to quickly play the first four notes of the scale that the song is in, in our. To help my students learn how to improvise the 12bar blues, i created this printable. To find out how you use these chords and what a 12 bar chord progression is, please join my online piano blues course now to get access to tutorial videos, sheet music and handy notes covering artists such as jerry lee lewis, fats domino, jools holland, ray charles and many more. Depending on the skill of the student, this could be a new note of the scale every crotchet beat or every minim. Blues music paved the way for many other genres of music we know and love. The blues was first being sung by the slaves who where brought to america from africa. For right hand fingering, start on the a with your thumb. Once you understand the chords and structure of the 12 bar blues, you will be able to learn any blues tune real quick.
To play your own 12 bar blues, just follow these easy instructions, playing with either hand or both hands. Essentially, the blues is a specific progression that uses the c7, f7, and g7 chords. The aim of the course is to learn how to play a simple but authentic sounding 12 bar blues including elements of improvisation. Can someone tell me the fingerings or tell me where i can find this info online. Today i want to talk to you about the 12 bar blues. My blogging has been rather sporadic so far this month this is a busy time of year for piano teachers, isnt it. This video teaches a little boogie woogie trick using the 3rd and 7th of a chord on the piano or keyboard. A good way to practice this scale is to start the backing track and play the notes of the blues scale up and down over two octaves in time with the pulse. Print and download in pdf or midi 12 bar blues scales. Or, in the same way, the g blues scale with the chords g7, c7 and d7. When you have the chord progression memorized, try playing the chords with the left hand while your right hand plays a simple melody, riff, or blues scale. The 12bar blues chord progression is in the treble clef on the score. It also covers how to play a 12 bar blues in any key. Scale choices for 12bar blues in this excerpt from sfs pentatonics 2 navigating chord changes, we study a process of selecting and applying different scale choices, when improvising over 12 bar blues.
At this point in our study of the blues, now its time to introduce the blues scale. By the way, if you are interested in learning blues guitar, there are great online blues guitar lesson courses out there. This scale is much used above all in blues,pop,jazz,soul,funk,rhythm and blues,rock. Blues scales and progressions, taught by leo marchildon and andrea amos. A walking bass line is simply a melodic bass line found mainly in jazz and blues styles in which you walk around in quarter notes connecting the chords. Blues piano tutorial chord progression 12 bar blues youtube.
The 12 bar blues has long been a favourite amongst music educators for teaching form, triads, the blues scale, cyclical chord progressions and music history. A nice combination are the chords am7, dm7 and e7 together with the a pentatonic blues scale. Ray charles ray charles style 12 bar blues improv sheet. You can replace any of the chord notes you pick, with the blues scale notes including all the open strings, from time to time. What fingerings are used for the minor and major blues scales. A blues scale consists of 6 different notes, namely the root, flat 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, 5th and flat 7th of the major scale. In the above example, the last 2 measures use a cadence referred to as a turnaround. Just the blues scale can be considered a basis for a particular key blues. The blues for free content learn jazz piano online. There are plenty of arrangements, based on chord progressions, to use. In a 12 bar blues form, the turnaround is the last four measures. A 12bar blues is performed, as the name implies, by playing twelve bars in a given arrangement that are repeated through a song. The best way to get used to playing the blues is to have a go at improvising over the top of a 12 bar blues chord progression.
The 12 bar is an extremely common structure when playing blues. A piano or alternative instrument guitaraccordion that can play whole steps, half steps. Although blues music has evolved over time, a fundamental chord progression called the 12 bar blues still lives on. See more ideas about piano, jazz and piano lessons. Would you like to learn how to play 12 bar blues piano fast. Lets learn the blues scales on piano and keyboard in every key. Or as the terminology goes, its concert bb concert meaning the actual note as heard on something like a piano, not the note the trumpet player thinks theyre playing. When playing a blues in a, like in the above examples, we can use an a minor pentatonic scale to improvise and construct solos. The 5th note and chord of the diatonic scale is known as the.
Here are pictures and notes of the major pentatonic blues scales. It was their way to express sadness, distress and pain. Most jazz standards are 32 bars long and so the blues form is less that a third of the length of a typical jazz standard. Improvise your own solo using the notes provided during the middle section. Based on the i, iv and v chords of any key, the 12 bar blues is one of the most prominent chord progressions in modern music. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c. For many students, when starting out with blues improvisation, its very easy to get locked inside the notes of the blues scale and never deviate away from 6 tones. The scale is made up of the notes a, c, d, e sharp, e, g, and a. There are only so many combinations with this format, so the feeling of familiarity is just not one you can escape as a musician or a listener. This 12 bar blues uses the repeatedchord technique which was a hallmark of the ray charles style.
It was a small group continue reading free printable. For more advanced students, have them play a 12 or 16 bar blues form underneath. There is however, another scale that is very similar, but much more bluesy. Try using each of the 4 different scales in turn picking out different notes each time. Scale choices for 12bar blues effective music practice. Download the free piano sheet music and video directly to your computer. For instance, in the c blues scale the notes are c eb f gb g bb c. In this how to video, learn to play the 12 bar blues on the piano or keyboard with this beginner blues lesson.
For the sake of brevity, ill only look at playing blues in the key of c. Learn how to play the 12 bar blues on the piano in this piano lesson. Want sheet music for the 12 bar blues in all 12 keys. The 12 bar blues is one of the most iconic song forms ever. Students will be able to compose an original 12 bar blues using the g major blues scale in conjunction with a rhythmic scaffold derived from the. Chord variations may also be added for harmonic diversity. Learn how to play the a blues scale on piano free video. The progression uses the i, iv and v chords of the major scale. The gullah net website includes information about the evolution of blues music and how it influenced. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues and rock music that lasts for 12 bars. It is built of only 3 chords making it really easy to play and a perfect skill to learn as a beginner piano player. Here are some of my favourite online music resources.
On page 1, the notes of the c blues scale are shown both on the. Unlock the world of blues piano and open the door to a world of creativity. This chord progression is based around the most important chords. The blues scale is used to improvize over the 12 bar blues, which leads to that very familiar blues guitar sound. The chords are written as triads using minims on the 1st and 3rd beats of each bar. Move up the scale finger by finger until you hit the e sharp with your fourth finger. Transcribing solos and memorizing them on your instrument is a great way to start understanding the language of the blues. Even beginner piano students can have fun practicing blues improv just have them stick to the black keys while you improv on e. The only 3 chords you need to master the blues on piano. How to play the blues on the piano or keyboard dummies. Pattern 1st 2nd flattened 3rd 3rd 4th 5th 6th flattened 7th 7th. Practicing the blues in all 12 keys is important because it opens up your understanding of your instrument and navigating it. The blues and the blues scale have these characteristics of sadness in their nature, caused by bending some of the notes in the scale.
In fact, thousands of pop, rock, and jazz songs use a 12 bar form. Blues scale in general it can be used on every chord but above all on min7 th and dominant 7th chord. Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. We can create a walking bass line over the following twelve bar blues chord progression. How to play boogie woogie and 12 bar blues on the piano. This pdf covers all 12 scales pretty well should give you a good idea what to use as does this site. On saturday, i had another piano party with my students. Name each of the notes of the triads using the lyric key using semibreves, create the 12bar blues chords in the bass clef insert a bass instrument and c. Download our free pdf versions of each scale with fingering. The 12 bar blues and the minor blues scale online guitar. Free minor pentatonic blues scale chart saras music studio.