How To Play 12 Bar Blues Guitar
Hey Everybody,
So you want to learn how to play 12 bar blues guitar? Well, you're in the right place! Once you've mastered this simple style you'll get literally years worth of enjoyment from playing it. Even the blues guitar masters like BB King, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan have built entire albums around the 12 bar blues. Following are the chords you need to know and the sequence in which you play them.
1. 12 BAR BLUES IN A - A x4 bars, D x2, A x2, E x1, D x1, A x1, E x1.
2. 12 BAR BLUES IN E - E x4 bars, A x2, E x2, B x1, A x1, E x1, B x1.
1 bar is 4 beats, so start by just playing one down strum for every beat. 4 strums would equal 1 bar. By the time you've played these sequences through a couple of times you'll start to recognise the familiar sound of the 12 bar. It's formed the basis of about a million blues songs, literally!
Once you've mastered the chords that make up the rhythm guitar part, it's time to learn some lead guitar licks to play over the top. This is where the fun really begins. You can spend a lifetime mastering the art of the blues and learning how to play 12 bar blues guitar is merely the first step on the ladder. Try downloading some backing tracks and practice playing along with them to really help you improve your skills quicker. Not only that, they'll help you get a feel for playing the blues that playing by yourself can never do.
Talk Soon,
Dave