Example 213 AmiT
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19 AmiT
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I n NZM's AugusVSeptember 2009 issue I
I wrote about how important it was to knowI the form of music called a Twelve Bar Blues
progression.That lesson discussed the majorand dominant 7th forms of the progression. ltwould be preferable to get that lesson and useit in conjunction with this one as this lessonfollows it on. lt can be viewed online throughboth www.nzmusician.co.nz and my websitewww.g uitar.co.nz.
Every good musician needs to have a goodworking knowledge of the 12 bar blues songform, but not many beginning/intermediateguitar students I come in contact with are wellversed with it, and even fewer know the minorversions.
One of the first things musicians like toplay when jamming is a blues form tune toget things started, as it helps warm up andget in the groove with the other players. Animportant reason to know the minor bluesform is that i t contains the three primarychords of the minor key that are used most ofthe time in minor key songs, so they will getyour ears quickly hearing their distinct quality.
Now you know learning this song form isso important it is a matter of learning to playit, memorising it, and most importantly, beingable to hear it. One of the quickest ways tophysically memorise this progression is to playit with bar type chords because all the chordsare close to each other and form a little visual
Page ZB
Minor Blues Progression
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playing pattern. lf you don't know bar chordsyet, don't worry, Example 1 is easy enough toremember using open chords.
Example 1 contains two chord progressions- the ones above the staff and another below.The progression above contains the most basic12 bar minor blues form. Quite often the bluesis coloured with minor 7th chords like in theprogression below the staff. Also, there arevariations in this progression - the change toDmiT in bar two is cal led the'quick change'theDmiT in bar 10 is a common variat ion. whilethe last two bars are called the 'turnaround:
Keep your ears open for those variations.Whenpractising use any strum pattern you wish.You will hear experienced players talk aboutquick changes and turnarounds, make sureyou memorise those terms so you know whatthey are talking about.
Example 2 is a blues progression heardin jump and )azz tunes. lt is a little morecomplicated than the previous two, butworth learning once you know the others. lt isrelatively easy to memorise, but there are a fewdifferent chords you will need to remember.
In bar 4 the AmiT chord changes to anA dominant 7th chord, which sets up thechange to DmiT perfectly. In bar 9 there is anFmaj7, which is the 6th chord of the key andflows gracefully down to the 5th chord E7.Theturnaround in bar 12 uses a common I l-Vchord sequence to turn the song back to the
beginning again. Experienced players coulduse cut down or triad versions of the chordswritten here.
Although this is writ ten in a common guitarkey, you will need to get used to playing it innon-guitar keys like Bb, Eb Ab etc. if you wantto play with jazz musicians. Playing this with aswing style strum will sound best. lf you wantto solo while jamming with your fr iends, theminor Dentatonic and blues scale with theirassociated licks will fit over the three chordexamples easi ly enough.
Here are some popular songs that usea minor twelve bar blues format similar toExample 1: Black Magic Woman by Santana;Help The Poor by B.B. King and Eric Clapton; A//Your Loveby Clapton and John Mayall.Ofcoursethere are millions of others. Here are two songsthat use a 1 2 bar blues format similar to Example2 - Mr PC. and Equinox by John Coltrane.
Once you know the sound, can play theprogressions well and have them memorised,you should be able to f igure out many othersongs yourself and be able to jam with mateswithout the need for written music. I hope thishelps you have more fun with your guitar.
Kevin Downing is a guitarist,teacher,and author.He con be contacted through his website atwww.guitar.co.nz or PO Box 4586, PalmerstonNorth,4442.
NZM April,/Maq ZOID
