Blues Rhythm Lesson 1 In this lesson I am going to take you through the basic 12 bar and show you

some examples of a 12 bar blues rhythm. Basic 12 Bar Blues Rhythm Put simply, a 12 bar blues needs 3 chords; the 1 chord, 4 chord and 5 chord. If I use the key of C Major for now and write the notes out along with the numbers 1 to 7 I get this.... C-1 D-2 E-3 F-4 G-5 A-6 B-7 So the 1, 4 and 5 chords are C, F and G. The same system works for all 12 keys, just pick the 1, 4 and 5 out of each key and you have the 3 chords needed to play a 12 bar. Rhythm Chart This is the simplest 12 bar blues; play 4 bars of the 1 chord, 2 bars of the 4 chord, 2 bars of the 1 chord, 1 bar each of the 5 then 4 chord and finally 2 bars of the 1 chord. On Rhythm Audio Ex 1 you will hear one downstrum for every beat. Here is the chord chart for this rhythm. Note that I am using the '/' symbol after each chord name as it tidies the rhythm chart up a little..... C/// C/// C/// C/// F/// F/// C/// C/// G/// F/// C/// C/// 7th Chords Major Chords are OK when playing blues but they sound quiet stable and 'at home'. To add a little more tension I am going to now show you a 12 bar with 7th chords. The chart will be in the key of A , so the 1, 4 and 5 will be A7, D7 and E7. The chart is as follows..... A7/// A7/// A7/// A7/// D7/// D7/// A7/// A7/// E7/// D7/// A7/// A7/// Here is another 12 bar, this time in the key of E, which means the 3 chords will be E7, A7 and B7 E7/// E7/// E7/// E7/// A7/// A7/// E7/// E7/// B7/// A7/// E7/// E7/// Strumming There are 2 ways to strum a chord; using a Downstroke or an Upstroke. A downstroke means strumming from the bottom E string to the top E string; an Upstroke is from the top E string towards the bottom E. With Upstrokes, don't be too pedantic about having to hit every single string; as a Downstroke comes before it most of the strings will be ringing out anyway. With the examples in C,E and A, I have also provided some alternate strumming patterns. Although I have suggested some tempos with the three rhythm charts, start slowly to begin with and gradually build up the speed with the metronome. Also, try the different strum patterns with each chart for variety.