Basic Blues Guitar Sheet Music for Beginners

Start playing blues guitar with these easy-to-follow, printable beginner guitar tabs. You’ll be jamming out in no time with these popular blues songs.

What is the blues?

The blues is a type of music that originated in the African-American communities in the southern United States in the late 1800s. It is a musical style that is based on the use of the blue notes. The blues has been a major influence on many other genres of music, including rock and roll, jazz, and country music.

Where did the blues come from?

The blues is a genre of music that has its roots in African American culture. The genre developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the southern United States. The word “blues” refers to the feeling of sadness or despair.

The earliest known examples of blues music date back to the 1890s. The first published use of the term “blues” was in 1901, in an article in the Chicago Defender newspaper. The term “blues” began to be used more frequently after 1912, when W.C. Handy’s song “The Memphis Blues” was published.

The popularity of blues music exploded in the 1920s, with the help of artists such as Mamie Smith, Bessie Smith, and Ma Rainey. In the 1930s and 1940s, electric guitars and amplified sound became more common, thanks to musicians such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. In the 1950s, artists such as B.B. King and Willie Dixon helped to bring blues music to a wider audience with their recordings.

Today, blues music is enjoyed by people all over the world.

What are the characteristics of the blues?

The blues is a style of music that originated in African American communities in the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a genre of music that is characterized by simple chord progressions, a repetitive structure, and a call-and-response pattern. The blues is typically played on a 12-bar chord progression, which means that it has 12 bars (measures) of music. Each bar contains 4 beats, and each beat is equal to one measure.

The blues has a number of characteristic features that make it unique from other genres of music. These features include blue notes, slide guitar, and the use of code switching. Blue notes are notes that are played at a lower pitch than the major scale. Slide guitar is a type of guitar playing that uses a slide to change the pitch of the notes. Code switching is when a musician switches between different styles of music within the same song.

Basic 12-bar blues chord progression

How to play a 12-bar blues chord progression

The most common way to play the 12-bar blues is in the key of A using just three chords, A7, D7, and E7. Here are the chord shapes and how to play them.

A7:
x02223

D7:
xx0212

E7:
022100

The first chord, A7, is just a basic A triad with a flat 7th added (A-C-E-G-Bb). The second chord, D7, is created by adding a flat 7th to a D major triad (D-F#-A-C). The third chord, E7, is created by adding a flat 7th to an E major triad (E-G#-B-D).

What are the chords in a 12-bar blues chord progression?

In its simplest form, a 12-bar blues chord progression is built using just three different chords. These are typically referred to as the I, IV and V chords (pronounced “one,” “four” and “five”). In the key of C, the I chord is a C chord, the IV chord is an F chord and the V chord is a G chord.

The 12-bar blues progression is so common in popular music that it has been given its own name: “the blues.” The blues can be played in any key, but it is most commonly heard in the keys of C, D and E.

The basic structure of a 12-bar blues progression is as follows:

I I I I
IV IV I I
V V I I

Basic 12-bar blues melody

The basic 12-bar blues melody is a great way for beginners to get started playing blues guitar. This melody uses simple open position chords and can be played with a pick or fingers. The melody can be played with a variety of different feels and tempos.

How to play a 12-bar blues melody

The standard 12-bar blues is a great place to start when learning to play blues guitar. It contains the essential elements of the genre and only uses three chords. In this section we’ll learn how to play a basic 12-bar blues melody in the key of A using just two chords, A7 and D7.

The 12-bar blues is usually played in 4/4 time at a slow to moderate tempo. The melody is usually based on one of the following chord progression:

I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I I

What are the notes in a 12-bar blues melody?

A 12-bar blues melody is simply a repeating pattern of 12 musical measures, or bars. The most common blues melody consists of only 3 different chords, which are typically played in the following order:

The root chord (the chord built on the first note of the scale) is played for the first 4 bars.
The 4th chord (the chord built on the 4th note of the scale) is played for the next 2 bars.
The 5th chord (the chord built on the 5th note of the scale) is played for the next 2 bars.
And then finally, the root chord is played for the last 4 bars, completing the 12-bar cycle.

So in a 12-bar blues in the key of C, for example, you would play C for the first 4 bars, F for the next 2 bars, G for the following 2 bars, and then back to C for the last 4 bars.

Conclusion

Now that you have explored some basic blues guitar sheet music for beginners, you should be able to find a few pieces that you feel comfortable playing. Remember to practice regularly and soon you will be playing the blues like a pro!