12 Bar Blues On Piano - Piano Lessons

Piano Lessons.com The #1 Name in Piano Lessons Online 12 Bar Blues– Nate Bosch Hi! I’m Nate Bosch of Piano Lessons.com. Today I want to talk to you about the 12 Bar Blues. This is a chord progression, well it’s over twelve bars as its name says and it uses three chords, we have let’s use the key of G for example, the one chord which is the G, the four chord the C, the five chord the D. So those three chords right there. Now the basic structure is broken up into three lines, three lines of four bars and so the person we start with. I’m just going to do a basic pattern. I’ll teach you this pattern in a bit. Well this is just to show the progression. We start with the one chord. [Demo] Bar number two [Demo] Three [Demo] Four [Demo] So we got four bars of the one chord. Now in the second line we go to two bars of the four chord [Demo] Back down to two bars of the one chord [Demo] Now we get in the third line we start with one bar of the five chord [Demo] One bar of the four chord [Demo] And then one bar of the one chord [Demo] The last bar is usually a filler to get you back to the top again which usually brings you to the five chord. [Demo] Go back to the top [Demo] So in this progression we have four measures of the G chord which are one chord then we go to two measures of the four chord C back down to two of the one chord G, we have a five chord D, four chord C, one measure of the one chord G and then our bridge to get us through back to the top again which we throw five chord in there. At the end of the song it would be the one chord so that our root are finished. So there you have the basic pattern, that’s the 12 bar blues. Now I’m just gonna show you couple a little tips and tricks so that we can be playing a little bit of the 12 bar blues right now. So let’s start with the left hand pattern that I was playing there. The left hand, we got G on the bottom, D at fifth above and then we just [Demo] That is one way of playing it or [Demo] So just rocking these two fingers back and forth between the D and the E. So for E’s bar [Demo] Part three [Demo] Four [Demo] Now go to the fourth chord [Demo] C [Demo] Back down with [Demo] One [Demo] Go to the five chord [Demo] Fourth chord [Demo] The one chord [Demo] Change a little bit there because we’re coming back to the top. And there you have the 12 bar blues. Now the thing about the blues is, what makes it gives you that bluesy sound is a couple of things. In the blue scale which you can check some of the other resources, I go through all of the different blue scales. Now in the, for in the key of G, in the G blue scale, I’ll just quickly run it [Demo] Well gives you that bluesy sound in the third and the seventh. Now the third, notice that the scale is a flat note and that seventh note. So when we’re playing the G blue scale, well we could play a G chord over top of it [Demo] Sounds are right but it doesn’t really have that bluesy sound. Well, I’m going to show you just a simple little chord, little pattern you can use to give it that bluesy sound. We’re going to add the seventh note to our G chord. So here is the pattern [Demo] And on top of that we’re going to add a D and an F. Now if we look at the G chord we got G, B, D and now we’re adding the seventh, that’s that interval there and it’s called a dominant seventh chord. Now that little [Demo] We’re going to do that. Watch [Demo] That’s a little more bluesy sound [Demo] So let’s do that again [Demo] So D, F, E, G back and forth. Now when we switch to the four chord or C chord, we’re gonna play the same sort of thing. We’re going to play the seventh, the dominant seventh there of this chord. So in this case it would be [Demo] So it have the G and the B flat going up to the A and C and back [Demo] So we have the first one in G, when we get to the four chord, here’s our little leak [Demo] Take it back down to the G. Now when we get to the five chord it’s the same thing we have the seventh, so here’s the chord. [Demo] Well there is that minor seventh interval, so here is our note, the A and the C and the B and the D. then we, that’s on the five chords so we have the [Demo] Then we go back down to the four chord, we have the G and the B flat again. [Demo] Now down to the one [Demo] Now we’re back again [Demo] Changing it up here a bit [Demo] Now here is where the blue scale comes in handy [Demo] That [Demo] I’ll teach you that later, [Demo] Now as you go to the five [Demo] Four [Demo] Finish off with the nice dominant seventh chord. There you have that bluesy sound and there is the basic 12 bar blues.