12 Bar Blues Shuffle

It may help to first read the Chord Progression lesson before starting this one, because we will be referencing some material covered in that lesson. 

The 12 Bar Blues Shuffle is one of the easiest ways to get started in playing the blues. Shuffling refers to the basic blues rhythm, and uses only 2 notes from each chord. Simple enough. One note will always be the root of the chord. The other note will alternate between the V and VI notes of it's scale. 

For example: Let's start with A. The 5th and 6th notes of the A major scale are E and F# respectively. So the Blues shuffle will use the A5 and A6 chords, and will look like this:

Blues Shuffle on the A chord.

      A5       A6

E||--------------------------|--------------------------|
B||--------------------------|--------------------------|
G||--------------------------|--------------------------|
D||--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
A||--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|
E||--------------------------|--------------------------|

Next, we will try the E chord shuffle. The 5th and 6th notes of the E major scale are B and C# respectively. 

Blues Shuffle on the E chord.

     E5       E6

E||--------------------------|--------------------------|
B||--------------------------|--------------------------|
G||--------------------------|--------------------------|
D||--------------------------|--------------------------|
A||--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
E||--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|

The last chord we will try is B. The 5th and 6th notes of the B major scale are F# and G#. This one can be a little tricky. You will need to stretch your pinky to hit the G# note on the second chord. If you have trouble with it, start out slowly, and with a little practice you should be able to do it easily.

Blues Shuffle on the B chord.

        B5       B6

E||--------------------------|--------------------------|
B||--------------------------|--------------------------|
G||--------------------------|--------------------------|
D||--4--4--6--6--4--4--6--6--|--4--4--6--6--4--4--6--6--|
A||--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--|
E||--------------------------|--------------------------|

Now lets use the shuffling technique with the traditional Blues Progression. We know from the Chord Progression lesson, that the Blues Progression uses chords I-IV-V. To play a Blues Progression in the key of E, we would use chords E, A and B. What a coincidence, those are the ones we just practiced!  :)

Here is a Standard Blues Progression, in the key of E:

E / E / E / E
A / A / E / E
B / A / E / E-B

Now lets try the 12 Bar Blues Shuffle in the key of E:

      E(I)                       E(I)

E||--------------------------|--------------------------|
B||--------------------------|--------------------------|
G||--------------------------|--------------------------|
D||--------------------------|--------------------------|
A||--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
E||--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|

  E(I)                       E(I)                     
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|

  A(IV)                      A(IV)                     
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|

  E(I)                       E(I)                     
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|

  B(V)                       A(IV)                     
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--4--4--6--6--4--4--6--6--|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|
|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|

  E(I)                       E(I)  B(V)                     
|--------------------------|--------------------------||
|--------------------------|--------------------------||
|--------------------------|--------------------------||
|--------------------------|--------4--4--------------||
|--2--2--4--4--2--2--4--4--|--2--2--2--2--------------||
|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--------------------||

Instead of using major chords, you can also use dominant seventh chords (I7-IV7-V7), which are commonly used in blues because of their blusier feel. For example, we can replace B in the last bar with a B7. 

  E(I)  B7(V)                     
|--------2--2--------------||
|--------0--0--------------||
|--------2--2--------------||
|--------1--1--------------||
|--2-----2--2--------------||
|--0--0--------------------||

Let the B7 chords ring out, it will add a more blues-y feel at the end. You can experiment with this shuffle, and begin improvising by adding your own blues licks into the rhythm. You can also record this, and solo over the rhythm using the Blues Scale.