Free Blues Piano Lesson!
This free blues piano lesson will give you a glimpse of the basic stuff and then you can build up on it, as you get more comfortable with the blues scale. Here, I will be taking you through the 12 bar blues and also throw in some riffs to go along.
What is 12 Bar Blues?
12 bar blues is nothing but three chords played in a fixed order for 12 bars. The three chords need to belong to the same key and are based on the first, fourth and fifth notes of the key. As a beginner you have to play these three chords but as you become a seasoned player you will soon realize that there is nothing rigid about music. You can definitely go around doing plenty of chord substitutions. But for the time being these three chords is what you need to remember.
So if you consider the scale of C, you will need to use the C, F and G chords, which are the first, fourth and fifth chords respectively. What about the sequence and the number of bars to be played? Here it is!
12 Bar blues in the C scale
C chord – 4 bars
F chord – 2 bars
C chord – 2 bars
G chord – 1 bar
F chord – 1 bar
C chord – 1 bar
G chord – 1 bar
Total – 12 bars
Using your Lefty
Keep it simple! Play the octave notes with the left hand, using your first and fifth fingers. So for C chord, you can use the 2 fingers to play the C notes which are one octave apart. What about the beat? Initially, you can play the chord at the beginning of every bar and keep it pressed for the entire bar. As you become comfortable you can play the chord for every beat in the bar i.e. 4 times for every bar.
Using your Right hand
Not difficult! Most of us know what needs to be done with the right hand. It is only the left hand, which is a problem. You play the melody with your right hand; of course you can play chords too but most of the time it is going to be melody. You already know the notes of the blues scale so as you maintain a steady beat with your left hand, just play some notes to form a melody. Of course it needs to sound bluesy!
Go back to the Blues Piano page
