Only strings attached

Blues in every key

Published on

Working on the blues in the key of F this week. Let's write down and exercise some theory.

Structure of the 12 bar blues

  • Follows an AAB form
  • Chord progression I - IV - V
  • Example of full 12 bars in a song: I - IV - I - I / IV - IV - I - I / V - IV - I - V

Progression types include:

  • Basic: I - I - I - I / IV - IV - I - I / V - V - I - I
  • Shuffle: I - I - I - I / IV - IV - I - I / V - IV - I - I
  • Quick to four: I - IV - I - I / IV - IV - I - I / V - V - I - I
  • Bebop: I⁷ - IV⁷ - I⁷ - I⁷ / IV⁷I⁷ - #IVº⁷ - I⁷ - V/ii♭⁹ / ii⁷ - V⁷ - I⁷V/ii♭⁹ - ii⁷V⁷

Playing the chords on the base

We want to play chords 1-3-5-b7. Let's start with C and move in fourths. And for every chord, we should work on permutating the notes besides the root note, which is fixed.

An example: key of C

In the key of C, we have

C - D - E - F - G - A - B, and we want C⁷ - F⁷ - G⁷

  • I: C - E - G - Bb
  • IV: F - A - C - Eb
  • V: G - B - D - F

Each dominant 7th chord is comprised of 4 notes, or 3 minus the root. So for every chord, there are 6 permutations. For example, if we are playing C⁷,

  1. C - E - G - Bb
  2. C - E - Bb - G
  3. C - G - E - Bb
  4. C - G - Bb - E
  5. C - Bb - E - G
  6. C - Bb - G - E

Writing the rest down

In the key of F, we have

F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E, and we want F⁷ - Bb⁷ - C⁷

  • I: F - A - C - Eb
  • IV: Bb - D - F - Ab
  • V: C - E - G - Bb

In the key of Bb, we have

Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A, and we want Bb⁷ - Eb⁷ - F⁷

  • I: Bb - D - F - Ab
  • IV: Eb - G - Bb - Db
  • V: F - A - C - Eb

In the key of Eb, we have

Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C - D, and we want Eb⁷ - Ab⁷ - Bb⁷

  • I: Eb - G - Bb - Db
  • IV: Ab - C - Eb - Gb
  • V: Bb - D - F - Ab

In the key of Ab, we have

Ab - Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - G, and we want Ab⁷ - Db⁷ - Eb⁷

  • I: Ab - C - Eb - Gb
  • IV: Db - F - Ab - Cb
  • V: Eb - G - Bb - Db

In the key of Db, we have

Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - C, and we want Db⁷ - Gb⁷ - Ab⁷

  • I: Db - F - Ab - Cb
  • IV: Gb - Bb - Db - Fb
  • V: Ab - C - Eb - Gb

In the key of Gb, we have

Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb - Db - Eb - F, and we want Gb⁷ - Cb⁷ - Db⁷

  • I: Gb - Bb - Db - Fb
  • IV: Cb - Eb - Gb - A
  • V: Db - F - Ab - Cb