The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent
chord progressions in
popular music. The
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
progression has a distinctive form in
lyrics,
phrase,
chord
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
structure, and
duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the
I,
IV, and
V chords of a key. Mastery of the blues and
rhythm changes are "critical elements for building a
jazz repertoire".
Background
The blues originated from a combination of work songs, spirituals, and early southern country music. The music was passed down through oral tradition. It was first written down by
W. C. Handy, an
African American composer and band leader. Its popularity led to the creation of "
race records" and the popularity of blues singers like
Bessie Smith and
Ma Rainy
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of ...
. The style of music heard on race records was later called "
rhythm and blues" (R & B). As the music became more popular, more people wanted to perform it. General patterns that existed in the blues were formalized, one of these being the 12-bar blues.
Basic progression
The basic progression for a 12-bar blues may be represented in several ways.
It is shown in its simplest form, without the common "quick change",
turnarounds, or seventh chords. For variations, see the following section.
*Chord notation in the
key of C:
:
*Functional notationchords are represented by T to indicate the
tonic, S for the
subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...
, and D for the
dominant:
:
*
Roman numeral notation
In music theory, Roman numeral analysis is a type of musical analysis in which chords are represented by Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, …). In some cases, Roman numerals denote scale degrees themselves. More commonly, however, they represent ...
I represents the tonic, IV the sub-dominant, and V the dominant:
:
Variations
Shuffle blues
In the original form, the dominant chord continued through the tenth bar; later on the V–IV–I–I "shuffle blues" pattern became standard in the third set of four bars:
:
Quick to four
The common quick-change, quick to four, or quick four variation uses the subdominant or IV chord in the second bar.
:
Seventh chords
Seventh chords are a type of chord that includes the 7th scale degree (that is, the 7th note of the scale). There are different types of 7th chords such as major 7ths, dominant 7ths, minor 7ths, half diminished 7ths, and fully diminished 7ths. These chords are similar with slight changes, but are all centered around the same key center. Dominant 7th chords are generally used throughout a blues progression. The addition of dominant 7th chords as well as the inclusion of other types of 7th chords (i.e. minor and diminished 7ths) are often used just before a change, and more changes can be added. A more complicated example might look like this, where "7" indicates a seventh chord:
:
Bebop blues
This progression is similar to
Charlie Parker's "
Now's the Time", "
Billie's Bounce
"Billie's Bounce" (also known as "Bill's Bounce") is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of a 12 bar F blues. Some sources claim that the song was dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie's agent, Billy Shaw, although according ...
",
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...
's "
Tenor Madness", and many other
bop tunes. Peter Spitzer describes it as "a bop
soloist's cliche to
arpeggiate this chord
79 (secondary dominant">V/ii = VI
79)">secondary_dominant.html" ;"title="
79 (
V/ii = VI
79)from the third (chord)">3 up to the ninth">9."
:
Minor blues
There are also minor twelve-bar blues, such as John Coltrane's "Equinox (standard), Equinox" and "Giant Steps, Mr. P.C.". The chord on the fifth degree (music), scale degree may be major (V
7) or minor (v
7). Major and minor can also be mixed together, a signature characteristic of the music of
Charles Brown.
:
Other variations
"
W.C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...
codified this blues form to help musicians communicate chord changes." Many variations are possible. The length of sections may be varied to create
eight-bar blues or
sixteen-bar blues.
Melodic line
As the chords of a 12 bar blues follow a form, so does the melodic line. The melodic line might just be the melody of the piece or it might also include lyrics. The melody and lyrics frequently follow an AA'B form, meaning one phrase is played then repeated (perhaps with a slight alteration), then something new is played. This pattern is frequently used in the blues and in musical genres that have their roots in the blues.
See also
*
Eight-bar blues
*
Sixteen-bar blues
*
Bird changes
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Twelve-Bar Blues
Chord progressions
Song forms
Jazz genres
Blues music genres
*
Jazz terminology
12 (number)
de:Blues#Das Blues-Schema