So lets take a look at how it works, and how best to play it. The 12bar blues is one of the most common chord progressions of all time. Year 8 12 bar blues walking bass line charlotte andrew. Its important to know, practice, and be able to play them all. Applying patterns to the blues free online bass lessons. Become a member, purchase studypacks, buy suggested products or donate. Here is a simple bass riff played out over the 12 bar blues in e.
Instead of having a few different things to try in this lesson, we are going to learn a written. Watch the video on this page heres a diagram of the basic blues bass pattern that is applied in the video. Play 12 bar blues in c major with a triad bass line how to. This book and audio package is solely devoted to providing you with all the technical tools necessary for playing 12 bar blues with authority. Applying patterns to the blues studybass fundamentals. A bar is a musical phrase, a way of measuring the music against its rhythm, and blues songs are structured in a. Once you have the 12bar blues form memorized, we can start applying note patterns from earlier lessons to it. We know them as phenomenal musicians with an ability to solo in a. This is where things start to sound right and like youre actually playing the blues.
Basic 12 bar blues in a the walking bass bass tabs bass. The 12bar blues progression is important because its a starting point when musicians get together. As well as being accessible and relatively simple in its basic forms its a must know for any musician and will surely pop up at some stage in your music career. Not only am i playing something that very plainly and typically outlines the changes, im not really playing a different line every time. Written for solo instrument solo contrabass with a duration of 1 min. Once you learn to play the 12bar blues on the guitar, you can play such classic blues pieces as hound dog, stormy monday, kansas city, st. A great line to learn effective use of open strings, btw. So in your example the line could be just those chromatic approach notes alone if the situation allows it so the line could go on a simple jazz swing 16 bar blues of i iv v could play, 8 bar, 12 bar, 16 bar it makes no real difference for an example. Simple walking bass line for 12 bar blues by rj sirett. Nov 12, 2016 in previous posts i have discussed different ways to introduce the 12 bar blues to students. Transcript its called the 12 bar blues because its three statements that are four bars each. If you are interested in learning or perfecting your blues guitar playing, this is an excellent strategy for improving your playing in the privacy of your own home. It is very similar to the basic 12 bar blues, with the only difference being the quick change to the iv chord in the 2nd measure.
Using the 12 bar blues shuffle chunka chunka style for 34 minutes can become quite tedious, so breaking into a few cycles of this 12 bar blues bass line style can add a lot of interest, although it can be a little difficult to to play if. When you think of classic blues players you probably think of stevie ray vaughan, eric clapton, joe bonamassa, robert johnson and many others. As the name suggests, it features in blues guitar a great deal, it is also used very commonly in jazz, rock, pop, country and even heavy metal. How to play a 12 bar blues on the bass guitar easy lesson. There are many different sets of chord changes used in 12bar blues.
There are so many variations of the blues but lets focus, for now, on one thing and you can diversify from there. That way if you do want to change things up, its easy because you all have that progression down. There are countless possibilities using varied rhythms and note patterns. The blues is the cornerstone of many styles of music and everyone should know how to play a 12 bar blues bass line. Bassbuzz 12 bar blues basics for beginner bassists. Recently i was on a gig and i was told that i need to vary my walking basslines over a 12 bar blues, as they are too repetitive and stale.
The 2nd most famous blues chord progression is the quick change, also called quickfour. Learning to play a basic blues bass guitar line is a really useful thing to learn. Bass tablature for 12 bar blues in e by bass lessons. Using the 12 bar blues shuffle chunka chunka style for 3.
In this lesson block well apply some of the common patterns weve covered and some chord patterns to each chord in the blues. Online shopping from a great selection at digital music store. I suggest mastering the pentatonic minor and major scales blues runs and then playing along to this cd over and over again. Learn 12 bar blues bass lines on guitar northville.
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created primarily within the africanamerican communities in the deep south of the united states at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work. The 12bar blues is by far the most popular form for the blues. Join tricia woods for an indepth discussion in this video minor 12bar blues and the green onions bass line, part of beginning blues keyboard. The 12 bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music. Each of these songs follows the 12bar blues pattern. This is the first in a short series of lessons devoted to playing bass on a 12 bar blues.
In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the i, iv, and v chords of a key. The blues scale can be used as the bass line but it is. Also referred to as the blues, or blues changes, it is based on the iivv chords of a key in its most basic form, heres how it is set up. Bass tablature for 12 bar blues jazz progression in f by bass lessons. Start playing these progressions using a single note in the. As well as functioning as a bass line, it can also be used as a kind of lead guitar line in a rockabilly style. Play the blues scale and other licks in the right hand on the piano how to. Mix bass lessons basic 12 bar blues for bass guitar easy basslines youtube. Acid,flstudio,ableton,pro tools,garageband,pro tools,cubase. This book and audio package is solely devoted to providing you with all the technical tools necessary for playing 12bar blues with authority.
If you are playing the blues on your own, using this kind of bass line can also break things up a bit. Although practical, playing root notes like that can become a little tedious. In regular 12 bar blues, you can play the first 4 bars on the regular bassline, then move to something like a disco groove for the next 4, then when you come back to the blues line you add in your slightly bluesier walking line. The most common form of the blues is a 12bar pattern of chord changes. Hence, the 8 bar blues has 8 measures, and 8 key changes. Walking bass lines are generally associated with our bass playing brethren, but guitarists can also effectively use them. Nov 07, 2018 learn how to play the the 12 bar blues on the bass guitar from musician john sutton in this online guitar lesson from howcast. Theme songs 12 bar blues bass tab just a basic twelve bar blues, feel free to change it up or swing your notes. Imo this does more to get them to notice your contributions to the band without having super flashy licks. The term 12 bar blues has become synonymous with blues music and is the basis for an incredible body of jazz, rock n roll, and other forms of popular music.
It is not only the basic structure for blues, but is also used extensively in rock, country, jazz and pop music. The bass line is a pretty imaginative representation of the 12 bar blues format, but jpjs solo is deservedly legendary. Nov 17, 20 year 8 12 bar blues walking bass line charlotte andrew. Sometimes playing either along with the bass, or taking on the role of a bass if there is no actual bass guitar. Jan 01, 2018 you can play a minor pentatonic scale over the whole track. In part three of our walking bass series, we are looking at the final changes for the 12 bar blues. Apr 30, 2018 walking through the 12 bars blues when you think of classic blues players you probably think of stevie ray vaughan, eric clapton, joe bonamassa, robert johnson and many others. If you all know the standard 12bar blues progression, then everyone knows the starting point. You can still play the twelvebar blues using the diatonic chords of the key, but it wont sound as bluesy this is why it can be used in other genres so well. You should remember a bar is the same as a measure. The video contains the performance and the slow version with tab on. The 12 bar blues is a chord progression used in blues and rock music that lasts for 12 bars. The chord progression is easy for beginners because it only uses three chords, the root, the fourth, and the fifth.
The most common musical form of blues is the 12 bar blues. Simple walking bass line for 12 bar blues download sheet music. Beginner blues bass survival shapes simple method for 12 bar blues duration. Examining the 12bar blues pattern if youve ever spent any time around a serious blues musician or music aficionado, youve probably heard the phrase 12 bar blues tossed about. Walking bass lesson 3 12 bar blues fundamental changes. Guitarists use the twelve bar blues as a primary stomping ground for improvising and jamming with friends. Mastery of the blues and rhythm changes are critical elements for building a jazz repertoire. The example above brings a lot of movement to a 12 bar blues and even sounds great in. This is a useful comping style for bigband playing, as the root notes are handled by the bass player and the upper structures of the chords are.
The physics of sound, your guitar and theory of music in a nutshell. We know them as phenomenal musicians with an ability to solo in a way that is authentic to the song that they are playing, but they. Using the 12 bar blues shuffle chunka chunka style for 34 minutes can become quite. Here is a simple bass line for the twelvebar blues in the key of c. Once you have the 12 bar blues form memorized, we can start applying note patterns from earlier lessons to it. Start playing these progressions using a single note in the appropriate key for four counts 1234. Watch and play along, the captions will help guide you to each chord in the 12 bar blues progression. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. Free blues bass music loops samples sounds wavs beats free downloads. Slow 12 bar blues beginner by bass lessons text bass tab. Jan 28, 2018 how to play complete 12 bar blues shuffle bass lines in a.
In the next few lessons in this blues bass lesson category i will show you how common patterns and actual basslines are created and applied to the skeleton of the 12bar blues form. We can create a walking bass line over the following twelvebar blues chord progression. In the blues bass lessons so far, weve only used one common variation of the blues form. The term 12bar blues has become synonymous with blues music and is the basis for an incredible body of jazz, rock n roll, and other forms of popular music. How to play the 12bar blues on bass guitar howcast. Youll also learn the blues bass scales and a history of the bass in blues music. The term 12 bar refers to the number of measures, or musical bars, used to express the theme of a typical blues song. Chunky c this just so happens to be done in the key of a but you can play this in any key you like by following the same pattern for the chosen key. Muse bass line evolution 1999 2018 play along tabs.
So far we have patterns for each chord change in the 12bar blues except for one, moving from v to iv i. Since you mentioned zeppelin, ill throw out the obligatory lemon song recommendation. I would recommend listening to lots of classic 12 bar tunes, and listen to how the changes and turnarounds can lend a whole new feel to each song. For example, if you are playing in an acoustic duo or similar. Bass lessons basic 12 bar blues for bass guitar easy. This book with online audio is solely devoted to providing guitarists with all the technical tools necessary for playing 12 bar blues with authority. Instead of annoying, creepy, privacyinvading ads, popups, or selling your data, studybass relies on the support of its users.
A walking bass line is simply a melodic bass line found mainly in jazz and blues styles in which you walk around in quarter notes connecting. The 12bar blues form exercises blues bass studybass. A walking bass line is simply a melodic bass line found mainly in jazz and blues styles in which you walk around in quarter notes connecting the chords. Walking bass through a 12 bar blues in this lesson im providing you with a simple walking bass line through a 12 bar blues progression in a jazz blues style talkingbassmark 20190519t17. We will be playing it in the key of g, so our chords are g, c and d. Now to create the 12 bar blues form, we just play these chords in the following order i.
Heres how to play a 12 bar blues on the bass guitar. Ill be covering blues rock and jazz blues in upcoming lessons. This month i wanted to talk about using a walking bass line to accompany another guitarist or musician when playing a 12 bar blues. Bass lessons basic 12 bar blues in a the walking bass bass tab blues basic 12 bar blues in a the walking bass by. The term 12bar blues has become synonymous with blues music and is the. Oct 12, 2015 12 bar blues blue bass lessons beginnerintermediate 12 bar blues bass lesson 1 12 bar overview 12 bar blues bass lesson 2 adding chromatics 12 bar blues bass lesson 3 standard blues bass pattern 1 12 bar blues bass lesson 4 standard blues bass pattern 2 12 bar blues bass lesson 5 sta. Most often in blues you will count 4 beats to each bar 44 time.