The 12 Bar Blues : The Backbone of Blues Guitar

From Blind Lemon Jefferson, singing the blues about the 1927 flood of the Mississippi River, to Big Joe Turner wailing about a big woman's legs, the twelve bar blues pattern has been the staple of any blues guitarist.  Blues guitar lessons involving anything that is blues style must teach the twelve bar blues method.  Without this simple design of play, the Blues would never be voiced.

Twelve bar blues consists of simple chords played on an acoustic guitar, although electric guitars have dominated the music market by being adapted to this form of music.  When looking for blues guitar instruction, starting out simple is sufficient to learning this emotional and expressive style of play.  You do not need the most expensive guitar to be found, a modest dreadnought or even a classical guitar will do nicely for each lesson.

Your teacher or course should have the knowledge of or include all forms of blues, so that you will get the best benefit of learning every style and mode of play.  Adding a blues repertoire to your list of skills can be both rewarding and enlightening, and for a performance on a stage, it is unbeatable in the entertainment factor.  Everybody loves the blues!

Learning the Blues begins with learning the basic of the method.  Twelve bar blues is the act of playing a set of chords over twelve bars of music, as suggested, and having lyrics that repeat at the beginning.  For example, you would play eight measures of the E chord, then four measures of the A chord, then back to the E chord four measures, finally to a B chord as a bridge to the beginning.

During play, the lyrics can be as follows, as an example:

"Woke up this mornin', didn't know where I was...

Yeah, woke up this mornin', really didn't know where I was...

Found out I was on jail, been arrested by the fuzz..."

These lyrics are rather facetious, but you get the general idea.  Blues can be anything, from hardship to romance, to a broken heart.  The blues lyrics themselves can be funny or downright gloomy.  You have the power to make your blues number whatever you want it to be, as long as you get premium blues guitar instruction.

There are variations in twelve bar blues.  During your blues guitar instruction, it may be prudent to get your hand on some famous blues guitarist music, or a compilation of blues music. This way you can listen to the wonderful examples of the blues greats, copying their mode of play and their guitar action.  This, in conjunction with good blues guitar lessons, will make you an expert in no time.

Understand that the beginning blues guitarist has a lot to work out, so take your time.  Twelve bar blues is the most popular blues playing style, with deep roots in the American South, and it has become the building block of many famous blues and jazz performers. Having a great blues guitar instruction course is paramount to knowing this awesome style of guitar playing.

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