12 Bar Blues Acoustic Lesson for Beginners

Learning to play the blues is fun. The feel of a 12 bar blues progression is like nothing else, and in this beginner lesson that's what I'm going to teach you, how to play a simple 12 bar blues progression. We'll start by explaining what chords should be in a given 12 bar blues progression in each key then look at the order you play those chords in. After reading this you'll be able to take any given scale and pick a 12 bar blues progression out of it easily.

The first step in putting a 12 bar blues progression together is determining which notes you must play. The blues uses a straight forward pattern you can memorize which also makes choosing the notes for a particular key quite easy. You need the scale that corresponds to the Key you want to play in then you need to pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes from that scale in question. These will be the notes you play for the 12 bar blues in that given Key.

So now you've got the notes, what style and in what order do you play them in? This is where the 12 bar blues pattern comes in. Here is what the 12 measures of the 12 bar blues looks like.

1 – 1 – 1 – 1 - 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 – 5 – 4 – 1 – 5

The numbers, you guessed it, correspond to the notes I talked about above that you got from the scale. You'd now plug in those notes/chords into the pattern above to make your 12 bar blues progression.

Now we'll go through a complete example in the Key of G. We start looking at the major scale for G.

G – A – B – C – D – E – F# - G

From the scale we can then pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes which are G, C and D respectively.
Next we place those in the 12 bar blues pattern I showed you above to give us the progression below.

G - G - G - G - C - C - G - G - D - G - C – D

Finally now we need to learn exactly how to play this on the guitar. The theory part is a must so that you'll know how to formulate a 12 bar blues progression for a particular key, but the actual feel and playing part is tough to describe in text.

I've recorded a short 10 minute video lesson below on the 12 bar blues. Give it a watch and you'll understand even better how to get started with this. After you watch the video go grab your own guitar and give it a try. Practice makes perfect.



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By Guest Blogger: Ian Fraser

        

Beginner Guitar Chords Lesson – The E and G Major Chords

Chords are your gateway to learning songs, and songs are probably the reason you wanted to learn the guitar in the first place. Today I'm going to share with you how to play two of the seven major chords you're going to learn as a beginner. We're going to look at the E major and G major chords.

Things to Remember

Always use the tips of your fingers when playing chords or single notes. Using the fleshy part of your finger can cause you to mute or blunt the strings that are above or below the one your pressing the fret on. A good way to ensure you're doing this is to keep your thumb down and not allow it to come up over the top of the neck.

Also, practice makes perfect when learning chords. Don't get too frustrated with yourself if you're having trouble getting it the first time. Chords take work and at first your fingers aren't going to feel comfortable making the shapes you want them to.



E major Chord

E – 0 —
B – 0 —
G – 1 —
D – 2 —
A – 2 —
E – 0 —

To play the E chord you're going to strum all 6 strings and use your first three fingers starting from your index finger to make the chord shape. The shape is: 2nd finger on 2nd fret of A string, 3rd finger on 2nd fret of D string and 1st finger on 1st fret of G string.

G major Chord

E – 3 —
B – 0 —
G – 0 —
D – 0 —
A – 2 —
E – 3 —

When you play the G chord you also play all 6 strings at once and use the same three fingers you used for the E chord. The shape you make for the G chord is: 2nd finger on 3rd fret of the low E string, 1st finger on 2nd fret of the A string and 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the high E string.

The G chord is a more difficult shape to make then the E. When you're starting out I suggest you concentrate on first making the shape correctly. You can build muscle memory for your hand by making the shape correctly, squeezing the neck of the guitar for a few seconds then relaxing. Do this a few times each day and eventually the shape will start to feel more natural.

The video below explains the chord shapes again with some close up shots of your left hand so you can see the correct positioning of the fingers. There's also a practice exercise to try once you're making the shapes correctly.



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By Guest Blogger: Ian Fraser

        

Easy to Learn Beginner Guitar Chords G, C and D7

Chords, they're what makes up a song, and are probably the primary reason you first picked the guitar in the first place. I know when I first started it was to learn songs I knew and those songs were made of chords so I couldn't wait to start learning chords.

In this lesson and video (below) I'm going to introduce you to three beginner guitar chords. These chords only require you to play the bottom three strings of your guitar and all but one of them only uses one finger on a single fret.

Practice them, get familiar with forming the shapes and switching between them while strumming. Don't get discouraged if the D7 chord is difficult at first. It will become easier as your practice.

Just before you get started the tablature below explains which frets you press on, which strings you don't play and which strings to just play open. The X's stand for strings not to be strummed, the 0's are the strings to play open and the numbers represent the frets you should be playing.

Beginner C Chord

E —- 0 —-B —- 1 —-G —- 0 —-D —- X —-A —- X —-E —- X —-

For this 3 string C chord you only need to use one finger. Use your first finger on the first fret of the B string and strum the bottom three strings.

Beginner G Chord

E —- 3 —-B —- 0 —-G —- 0 —-D —- X —-A —- X —-E —- X —-

For the 3 string G chord use your 3rd finger on the third fret of the E string and strum those bottom three strings.

The D7 Chord

E —- 1 —-B —- 2 —-G —- 1 —-D —- X —-A —- X —-E —- X —-

This chord will be a bit more challenging for you. To make the D7 chord place your 2nd finger on the first fret of the E string, your 3rd finger on the second fret of the B string and your f1st finger on the first fret of the G string.

The D7 chord will be tough and will take some time practicing it to get it to sound nice and clean. When practicing first master making the chords sound good on their own and then begin changing between the chords as you strum. Now watch the brief video below that explains the chords in more detail and explains the best way to start practicing them.



By Guest Blogger - Ian Fraser

        

Learning the Notes on each String of Your Guitar

Most beginner guitar players are ultra focussed on learning how to play chords. After all songs are made up of chords and most of use wanted to learn to play guitar so we could learn songs. Few beginners think about the concept that chords are made from individual notes, and learning those individual notes on each string can strengthen your ability to play more chords and be a more advanced guitar player.

In this lesson I'm going to share the patterns you can use on the guitar neck to learn the notes on each string all the way up the neck. This process does take some memorizing but you can start by choosing one string and learning the notes up to the fifth fret then move onto the next.

At the end of this lesson I've created a video that goes over this same technique and I provide an example. I walk you through the notes on each of the first 4 strings. Watch this video and then go grab your guitar and give it a try for yourself.

The Pattern: Half Steps and Whole Steps

A bit of musical theory for you. When we're talking about learning the notes on the guitar neck the notes in question are A through G. There are no H, J or Q notes, only A through G. There are sharps and flats between each note but we'll worry about those in another lesson.

Each musical note is separated by either a half step or a whole step. There's an easy way to remember this, how ever you will have to memorize this.

Every musical note has a full step separating it from the next except for B to C and E to F. The exceptions each have only a half step between them.

Half and Whole Steps on the Neck

With this new information we can now transcribe it over to the guitar neck. The neck, as you've noticed no dobht, is separated into frets. Each fret is one half step. By understanding the spacing between notes as explained above you can begin to find different notes on the guitar neck.

Start with the open strings and work your way up.

Example: Let's take the open low E or 6th string. When we play this string open (without pressing any frets) we're playing an E note. What comes after E? It's an F note, which is one half step above the E (it's one of the exceptions). So moving up from the open string a half step brings us only one fret, which is the first fret. So pressing on the first fret and playing that same 6th string creates an F note.

Let's move up one more note in this example, after F comes G. There is a full step between F and G so that means we have to combine two half steps to make a whole. We move up two frets to the third fret and we have a G note.

Can you see how the pattern is working? For beginning these exercises I suggest you start from each open string and work your way up to the 5th fret learning and memorizing the notes on the way up. The video below will explain this concept in more detail and also give you more examples.

Grab your guitar after you watch it and give this exercise a try. It will pay big dividends later on when you've memorized the note son the neck.



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By Guest Blogger: Ian Fraser

        

Let's try some funky chords.

E	0 2 0 1 0 0	0 m 0 i 0 0
E 7	0 2 2 1 3 0	0 m r i p 0
E 6	0 2 2 1 2 0	0 m r i p 0
C # sus 13	x 3 x 3 3 3	x i x m r p

Here are some more.  However, these are all closed barre chords.  They are movable.  For example, if you take the D sus 13 chord and move it down one fret then you get the E b sus 13 chord.

F	1 3 3 2 1 1	i r p m i i
F 7	1 3 1 2 4 1	i r i m p i
F 6	1 3 1 2 3 1	i r i m p i
D sus 13	x 4 x 4 4 4	x i x m r p

Conclusion


In another lesson we can put these chords together to make a progression.  You will notice that the sus 13 chords give a nice little jump to the music.

        

Today's guitarists need to know how to read tabs (tablature). Here are two videos which help out a lot.





You can also check out this text explanation (toward the bottom of the page):

Tab Lesson

        

Sometimes guitar players might have to play cut time.  How do we do that?  Check out this lesson from my drum blog

Cut Time Lesson



Conclusion



In another lesson we can look at examples of guitar music in cut time.  However, now do what the linked lesson says.

        

Power chords are always a lot of fun.  Most can be moved up and down the guitar fretboard.



How to Read the Notation



Let's look at some of these links for understanding power chords.


Power Chord Video


Fretboard Chart


How to Use a Movable Chord


Power Chord Lesson


Power Bar Chords


Power Chord Progressions



Conclusion



Don't try to learn to much at once.  Just learn a few progressions.

        

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Here is an A minor chord progression.   All the chords are open so they should be easy for a beginner.



How to Read the Notation 



Let's look at the lesson.

Am	0 0 2 2 1 0	0 0 m r i 0
D m	x 0 0 2 3 1	x 0 0 m p i
E m	0 2 2 0 0 0	x m r 0 0 0
E	0 2 2 1 0 0	0 m r i 0 0

 

A m

/          /          /          /

E m

/          /          /          /

A m

/          /          /          /

D m

/          /          /          /

E m

/          /          /          /

/          /          /          /

A m

/          /          /          /



Play again.  Substitute E for E m.



Conclusion



Of course, there are other ways to play the A minor chord progression.   Remember if you capo the 1st fret then you get the B b minor open progression.  You can get other open progressions by capoing different frets (2nd fret gives you the key of B, 3rd fret gives you the key of C).

        

How do we tune a guitar?  We can learn the correct way to tune a guitar on the following page.  There is also a free surprise.


Guitar Tuning Lesson


However, some people think it's better to use an electronic tuner.  I would advise getting an electronic tuner of some sort.  Nonetheless, there might be situations where you cannot get access to a tuner.  Therefore, it's useful to know guitar tuning.  However, you should be careful with the strings.  Don't tune them too high or they will break.