12 Bar Blues

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The 12 bar blues is one of the most iconic song forms ever! It is built of only 3 chords making it really easy to play and a perfect skill to learn as a beginner piano player.

The chords needed for the 12 bar blues are the 1, 4 and 5 chords. In the key of C you will play the chords based off of the 1st, 4th and 5th notes of the C scale:

C as your 1

F as your 4

G as your 5

Your left hand can create a perfect bluesy back drop by playing a 5th that walks up to the 6th and back again. Add a bit of a swing to your rhythm for even more of a blues sound. Here is how the chords are distributed in terms of timing:

C (1) for 4 bars

F (4) for 2

C (1) for 2

G (5) for 1

F (4) for 1

C (1) for 1

G for (1)

With your right hand you can play something as simple as octaves or a basic chord in varying rhythm patterns. If you want more inspirations and ideas for how to put this all together watch the lesson. Jordan will walk you through step by step how to build the 12 bar blues!

Have fun!

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Jordan Leibel is passionate about songwriting, improvisation, and helping you become a creative musician! He’s worked as a composer for film, commercial, and theatre projects as well as a session musician and producer for recording work.