12 Bar blues

[AlienQuiksilver]

Help!

I've been jamming at a local bar on open mic night for about 1 year. Now, I feel like getting out and playing in other bars with different people.

I-IV-I-I
IV-IV-I-I
V-IV-I-V

This is the progression that I'm used to ... whether it be straight triads, or any combination of 7th or dominant chords w/ extensions. Usually I can play whatever chords I choose for a rhythm, and the better players just watch me and immediately know what modes to use for their solo. The rookies just stick to minor pentatonic or the blues scale. Is it rude to play (dom 9,11,13) chords or (dom7#9) without saying anything about it? Most of the time there is no discussion on the specifics other than the feel of the song.

I'm not sure if this progression is universal to all open mic jams, so what else do I need to practice? Is there anything I should know before I set foot in another bar?

I thought learning the blues was going to be easy, but there seems to be an endless amount of surprises that come up on a regular basis.
I'm pretty good at adapting to new stuff, but I definitely sweat for the first couple go arounds.

I'm just a little intimidated to go elsewhere and play ... i'll probably be ok, but I kindly ask you fine folks for the "MUST" knows of da' blues.

[sliding-tom]

That progression is perfectly O.K. Don't worry about those extended chords, they all still work well with even the simplest pentatonic soloing (if the soloist knows what he's doing). The next thing you should be working on IMO are turnarounds to spice up the last two bars of a 12 bar progression. Learning the basics of blues is pretty easy (so most everyone claims) but there's a zillion of variations in timing, phrasing, choice of chords etc. that you'll never stop learning a new thing in this field. And I have met quite a few guys who could play rings around my head and said the blues is easy and boring but couldn't manage to play a 12 bar progression without getting lost.

[AlienQuiksilver]

ahh, the turnaround ... if I get lost, that's the place it occurs. I don't really mess around with that, so I'm gonna pry around and learn a few of those to get me started. Usually ... I'll just hit that last V chord with a different feel ... i'm such a cheater!

Good advice, Thank you!

[Offshore Angler]

I'd lose the quick change and focus more on laying down a sustained I groove, and as noted, use ii's and VI's in the turn.

Also, no blues jammer can possibly leave home without the Bobby Blue Bland progression in his hip pocket.

[KevinWaide]

I'd lose the quick change and focus more on laying down a sustained I groove, and as noted, use ii's and VI's in the turn.

Also, no blues jammer can possibly leave home without the Bobby Blue Bland progression in his hip pocket.

+1,000

Blues isn't something you can really learn. Yeah, you can learn the progressions, you can learn the licks, but if you just don't feel it, it's just nothing but a bunch of notes strung together. A single, sustaining, bent note with feeling trumps a 16th note run any day, IMNSHO.

[AlienQuiksilver]

I'll agree ...there's nothing more fun than soloing over 1 or 2 chords. My old guitar teacher would play rhythm when he was teaching me how to solo over the more difficult chords. He could play the same chord a million different ways, for 5 to 10 minutes even ... then would call out another chord for me to adjust to. He worked up to switching chords sooner and sooner, but the most fun was unleashing the fury over just that single chord.

I never tried working that idea into the blues. Actually ... combining this idea with a turnaround should kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[sliding-tom]

For the last two bars, try: I-IV - I - V for two beats each. That's usually the chords behind most turnarounds and will give you a feel for the several variations of turnarounds

[NTBluesGuitar]

I loves me a #9 chord in a turnaround (V with #9 before I).

[Offshore Angler]

Try a diminished scale over the IV, and tell us what happens.

[twin twelve]

Don't overuse the #9. Not every blues tune benifits from sounding like purple haze. If you are backing soloists, remember generally less is more. I'd suggest concentrating on the rhythm. Listen to the bass and kick drum as you want to stay in the pocket.

It's an ageless debate as to who is who's bitch (drummer or bass player) but it's generally accepted that the rhythm guitar slides into the pocket that is formed by those two.

As far as stuff to learn, you should not neglect minor blues (the bluest of the blue). Loan me a dime, Blue jean blues, Thrill is gone. Study those and you'll have a good foundation. BTW blue jean blues does happen to have the #9 in the turn around that you all are so fond of.

Doug

[Kap'n]

As far as stuff to learn, you should not neglect minor blues

Minor blues is an awesome framework for soloing. A lot more freedom to mess around, and it gives a new spin on country licks, too.

[Offshore Angler]

And never forget, the plain old everyday, mundane Ionian scale with chromatics can give your blues a nice uptown jazzy feel, see King, BB.

[ES350]

A few things that have entered the idiom since Fats, Duke, Watson, et al:

dim off the root on the V chord...
aug I chord going into the IV...(or b5 sub for the I)
aug V in whole tones on the V...ala T-Bone.