Blues Shuffle

Lesson on The Blues Shuffle

12 bar blues is one of the most basic chord progressions EVERY guitarists must know. On one hand playing the blues is
incredibly simple, yet takes a lifetime to master. It is the common language for guitarists.

A basic 12 bar blues progression looks like this and is based on the I- IV- V chords.

I Chord  | I Chord  | I Chord  | I Chord
IV Chord | IV Chord | IV Chord | IV Chord
V Chord  | V Chord  | I Chord  | I Chord

In the key of A it would be…

A  | A  | A  | A
D  | D  | D  | D
E  | E  | A  | A

Many times the blues is played with a “shuffle feel”. Although a shuffle can be described in formal
musical notation it is best to listen to an example to understand it.

The first bar of a 12 bar blues is played like the following. In this example your index finger always stays
on the 5th fret and your thord finger always stays on the 7th fret. To play the 9the fret you simple stretch out
your pinky to play the E note on the 9th fret.

E----------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------
A---7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9---------------
E---5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5---------------

The IV chord is exact the same as the I chord only you move to the A string.

E----------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D---7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9---------------
A---5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5---------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------

The V chord is just the IV chord moved up two frets.

E----------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D---9--9--11-11-9--9--11-11-9--9--11-11-9--9--11-11--------------
A---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7---------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------

Now put the whole thing together as a 12 bar blues. Try it at different tempos.
Don’t forget to close your eyes and make an expression like you just smelled some roadkill that has
been baking on a Mississippi highway for the last 10 hours !

A  | A  | A  | A
D  | D  | A  | A
E  | D  | A  | A

For extra credit try playing the same progression on different parts of the neck. Also try a little palm nuting as well to make
it a little more percussive.
For example start with the G chord.

The turn-around

During the last measure of the blues is usually something called a turn-around. The usually signals the end of the 12 bars
and is used to create a little tension and then resolution. There are many variations of a turn around. 

E----------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11--------------
A---7--7--9--9--7--7--9--9--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7---------------
E---5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5---------------------------------------

I would go into turn arounds and 7th chords but I think I already pushed the envelope by involving
three fingers in this lesson.

1 Comment »

  1. /Your mom said,

    May 8, 2008 @ 3:32 pm

    Man your site suck, when u play it the distortion is totally of man, not cool@!

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