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I’m now going to show you a chord progression that is probably the most ‘Jammed To’ chord sequence ever created. It’s called the 12 bar blues. This chord sequence is and absolute ‘must know’ for ALL guitarists. It is the mainstay for all blues music.

Here it is in its basic form, in the key of A.

OK, here it is :-)

Counting 4 beats to the bar as in 1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4 etc etc Play 4 bars of the chord A, then 2 bars of D, back to A for 2 bars then one bar of E, one bar of D a bar of A and finally a bar of E to finish off the sequence making 12 bars in total.

Simply keep repeating the sequence and get you friends to jam along with you in the key of A. It’ll sound great trust me! If you listen closely to a blues number you will probably be able to pick it out as it is a very popular sequence.

I really hope you are benefiting and enjoying these free mini guitar lessons. Please try not to worry if things seem not to make too much sense at the moment because my full audio video program has everything in chronological order and will become crystal clear very quickly indeed. It follows a secret structured program that will transform students into a great player in no time at all.

Now moving on from the 12 bar blues we will stick with the same theme and have a look at one of the many variations of this classic sequence.

For this example we’ll work in the key of A (major). It incorporates the use of 7th chords which sound cool in this context.

It goes like this: I A I D I A I A7 I D I D I A I A I E7 I D7 I A7 I E7 I

I A I = 1 bar of A (major) – I D I = 1 bar of D (major) etc

The A7 chord is constructed and played like so: the 6th string is not played, the 5th string is played open, the 4th string is played on the 2nd fret, the 3rd string played open, the 2nd string played on the 2nd fret and finally the 1st string is played open.

D7 is played – 6th & 5th string not used, 4th string open, 3rd string 2nd fret, 2nd string 1st fret, 1st string 2nd fret.

Here’s E7 – 6th string is open, play 5th string on the 2nd fret, 4th string open, play 3rd string 1st fret and 2nd and the 1st string are played open.

You can practise your soloing over this great little sequence and jam along to your hearts content.

Following on from this is a great trick to make your 12 bar blues even more bluesy…

Again working in the key of A we are going to substitute the D chord and the E chord for a D9 (D9th) and E9 (E9th). The D9th chord shape we are going to use is played like this:

The 6th string is not used, the 5th string played on the 5th fret (second finger). Play the 4th string on the 4th fret with your first finger and then play strings 3,2 and 1 at the 5th fret using your 3rd finger.

The E9 chord is simply played by sliding the chord shape up two frets. The 12 bar blues sequence is then played like this:-

lAlAlAlAlD9lD9lAlAlE9lD9lAlE9l

Use the 9th chord shape to create a real bluesy sequence.

Give it a whirl.

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