Blues Guitar Lessons and the Magic of 7th Chords

For example, the first step to learning the blues is understanding the form of most blues tunes, known as 12 bar blues. While this is for another article if you're not familiar with the 12 bar blues form I would suggest you take some time right now to find a video or article that explains it.

Once you know the basic form of the blues you can then start learning that form in different keys.

Learning the blues in different keys simply means knowing the notes in a particular scale and then being able to pick out the notes you need to build that keys 12 bar blues pattern.

Example: 12 Bar Blues in C

The C major scale has no flats or sharps so it looks like this

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

To make the 12 bar blues pattern you take the one chord, four chord and the five chord. So for this example that will be the C, F and G.

Now let's take those basics and make it even more bluesy.

7th Chords

The 7th chord is used a lot in blues guitar and it's a variation of the major chord. I'm going to share with you a very simple form you can learn and slide up and down the neck so you can start playing 12 bar blues using 7th chords right away.

We're going to base this 7th chord on the C7 chord. Below is the tab for the C7 chord, note you do not strum the 6th string, low E when playing this chord.

e------------- B-----1-------- G-----4-------- D-----2-------- A-----3-------- E-----X-------

Now if you take that same shape but play it without strumming the 1st string or high e either you can now slide it up and down the neck playing strings 2 through 5. The tab would look like this.

e------X------ B-----1-------- G-----4-------- D-----2-------- A-----3-------- E-----X-------

Now applying a little bit of simple theory we can find other versions of the chord.

The root note of the chord, on the A string is going to stay consistent no matter where you play it on the neck. So the 3rd fret on the A string when you're playing this form in the open position is a C. That is what makes it a C7th chord. What happens if you slide this form up to the 5th fret of the A string? You're playing a D chord. If you slide it up two more frets, which is a full step, you'll be playing an E7th chord.

That's all there is too it. This one chord shape, knowing where the root note is and then sliding it around the neck to find your different variations.

Have fun with 7th chords and your 12 bar blues pattern. You'll find that this sounds a lot more blues then playing major or minor chords.

Want to learn more about the blues? Why not consider taking some blues guitar lessons either online or with a DVD self study course. A learn guitar dvd can go a long ways to improving your skills and abilities with the blues.

Related Articles - blues guitar, learn guitar, guitar lesson, guitar chords,

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