12 Bar Blues

12 Bar Blues & Rock 'n Roll

Below are 5 examples of 12 Bar Blues... there are many more!
Always experiment with the chords, for example where there is an A use an A7 or even try an A9 or A13!
The same applies to the other main 2 chords D & E
Try different rhythmic ideas and tempo
This format is used in 100s of Blues & Rock 'n Roll Songs!
It's a great format for improvising.

Standard 12 Bar Blues in A

A / / / A / / / A / / / A / / /

D / / / D / / / A / / / A / / /

E / / / D / / / A / / / E / / /

Variation 1

A / / / A / / / A / / / A7 / / /

D7 / / / D7 / / / A / / / A / / /

E7 / / / D7 / / / A / / / E7 / / /

Variation 2

A / / / D7 / / / A / / / A7 / / /

D7 / / / D7 / / / A / / / A / / /

E7 / / / D7 / / / A / / / E7 / / /

Variation 3

A / / / D7 / / / A / / / A7 / / /

D7 / / / D7 / / / A / / / F#7 / / /

Bm7 / / / E7 / / / A / / / E7 / / /

Variation 4

A / / / D7 / / / A / / / A7 / / /

D7 / / / Adim7 / / / A13 / Ab13 G13 F#13 / / / [A13... please see below]

Bm7 / / / E7 / / / A / / / E7 / / /

e ----5-----------5---------4--------3--------2-------------------

b ----4-----------7---------6--------5--------4-----------------

g ----5-----------6---------5--------4--------3--------------------

d ----4-----------5---------4--------3--------2----------------------

a -------------------------------------------------------

e -----------------------------------------------------------

Adim7 A13 Ab13 G13 F#13 [these 13th chords are all the same shape... move down from the 5th fret A13]

Variation 5

A / / / D7 / / / A / / / A7 / / /

D7 / / / D7 / / / A / Bm7 / C#m7 / Cm7 /

Bm7 / / / E7 / / / A / / / E7 / / /

Bm7, C#m7 & Cm7 are barre chords played at the 7th, 9th & 8th frets respectively

Turnaround

This is used over the final 2 bars of a blues

A / / / A / / / A / / / A / / /

D / / / D / / / A / / / A / / /

E / / / D / / / A A7 D Dm A E7 / /

Play this turnaround using barre chords at the 5th fret