So you wanna learn the blues huh! I’ve got the perfect beginner lesson for you today then. In this article and video (at the end of the article) I’ll show you how to understand the pattern of the 12 bar blues, how to know which chords fit into that pattern for each key and in the video give you some tips on the feel and way to play those chords. By the end of this article you’ll be playing a simple progression for yourself.
Determining which chords you’re going to play for a given 12 bar blues pattern isn’t tough. You need to know what key you want to play in and then you need to know the scale that corresponds to that key (i.e. Key of A you need the A major scale).
Once you have the scale you then pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes from the scale. These will correspond to the chords you’re going to be playing for that 12 bar blues progression.
Now that we know how to find the chords we can easily plug them into the 12 bar blues progression. The pattern always looks the same for the 12 bar blues:
1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 – 5 – 4 – 1 – 5
No matter what key you’re playing in you always want to use the first, fourth and fifth notes/chords from that given scale. Each number corresponds to to one measure of that chord. If we assume then we’re playing in the key of A and each measure gets four beats then we’d start the progression with 4 beats of the first note in the key of A, followed by 8 beats of the fourth note in the key of A etc.
Carrying on with our Key of A example let’s complete it. The major scale for the key of A looks like this:
A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A
We pick out the first note which is A, the fourth note which is D and the fifth note which is E. Finally we add those to the progression above which leaves us with:
A – A – A – A – D – D – A – A – E – D – A – E
So the final thing is where on the neck do we play these chords and what type of feel do we give our strumming to get a bluesy sound. The video lesson below will explain that and give you something you can practice after watching. So take a few minutes right now, watch that video and then go grab your own guitar and give it a try.
Are you interested in learning to become a better guitar player? Why not consider a guitar instructional dvd to sharpen your skills? DVD and video guitar lessons are the qucikest methods to improve your skills when studying on your own.
Amplified sound created by electrical currents caused by vibrating strings is the definition of the music created by an electric guitar. The first electric guitars in the 1930s consisted of electromagnetic transducers fastened to hollow-arch-top acoustic guitars. The Fender, created by Les Paul, was the original modern-day electric guitar. The Fender made its debut in the 1940s.
The Body of the Guitar While some modern electric guitars have a partially hollow resonance-chamber, the electric guitar is characterized by its body being made out of solid wood with controls and pickups mounted on the surface. Because electric guitars do not use soundboards (a piece of wood through which sound is vibrated) (*it should be noted that what is known as the right handed or left handed acoustic electric guitar is very similar to the pre-cursor of the modern electric guitar, thus these do have soundboards in their design) one would think that the type of wood used in the construction of the guitar would not matter. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The type of wood still determines how the guitar will resonate. Rich sounds are created by dense wood (i. E. Mahogany, ash, and alder).
Bar A metal bar attached to the bridge varies the string tension be moving the bridge backwards and forwards. This bar is also known as the Tremolo, Whammy, Vibrato, or Wang Bar.
Fingerboard and Neck Maple-wood is the standard material used in the electric guitar’s neck construction. The fret or fingerboard is usually made of maple or rosewood is attached to the front of the neck. When the musician wishes to change the pitch of the sound, he or she will press the strings into the fingerboard which changes the vibrating-length. Bright pitches come from maple fingerboards. Timbres that are dark are produced by rosewood fingerboards.
The Pickups The pickups are what makes the sound and thus they can be said to be the ‘voice’ of the guitar. They are made of magnets wrapped in wire. The strings vibrate when the guitar is played. These vibrations disrupt the magnetic field of the pickup. This creates an electric current that is then amplified.
Pickups fall into two basic categories:
Single Coil Pickups These are pickups with only one coil. They have a bright sound but tend to produce a ‘humming’ sound. The elemental signal and harmonic matter are the basis of the hum and they are caused by magnetic-flux changes within the pickup.
Humbucker Pickups Because of the hum distortion of the single coil pickup, the Humbucker, or dual coil, pickup was created. These pickups have a thick sound and consist of two coils wound in a mirror image of each other. The polarity is opposed within the six magnetic-coils. All of this cancels out the ambient sound or hum before it is amplified. Some guitars have the option of switching between single coil and Humbucker.
Strings of the Guitar The guitar strings of an electric guitar vary in gauge, alloy, and winding. These are all significant factors in how the electric guitar sounds. It is important to note that all electric guitar string alloys are metal. Nylon strings would not be detected by the pickups. The strings on a right handed electric guitar run high E, B, G, D, A, and Low E. The strings on a left handed electric guitar run Low E, A, D, G, B, and high E because the guitar is played upside down.
The String’s Alloys Most commonly used are strings made of steel because they produce vast volumes and tones that are brilliant. Stainless-steel nickel plated strings have a subdued tone. Nickel strings have a muted-round sound and are best used in rhythm and jazz.
Gauge The thickness of the string is the gauge. Those who wish to play the guitar fast will need thinner gauged strings because they are easy to bend. Strummers who want vast volume should use strings that are medium of gauge. While hard to play because the strings don’t bend very well, a full vibrant sound can be had with strings of a heavy gauge
The String’s Winding The winding of the string comes in four different styles: flat, ground, round, and any of the other three but nylon taped. Fast guitarists usually prefer not to use the most common winding because round windings tend to ‘grab’ the fingers. Flat windings, also known as ribbon strings, have a smooth, oily surface and are the pride and joy of fast guitarists that like subdued tones. Only electric bass guitars have ground windings. Ground windings are round wound with a machine polish. Any of these three windings can be coated with nylon to produce a sound like that of an acoustic bass guitar. This is the definition of ‘nylon taped.’
When someone puts their electric guitar for sale, deciding to buy it depends on the music type you will play and how comfortable you are with the instrument. Just remember that sonic personalities of electric guitars vary because of the assortment of wood, string, and pickup combinations.
Any band that has a lot of guitarists for members would know the importance of a guitar effects pedal board. From the name of the instrument alone, a guitar effects pedal board is clearly a flat pane or board upon which the many guitar effects pedals are placed. The typical way of attaching the guitar effects pedals and their power supplies onto the board is by using Velcro material. Other adhesive materials can also be used here, but Velcro is the popular choice here. You can buy a guitar effects pedal board from just about any store that sells music instruments. You can also choose to make your own guitar effects pedal board. In fact, there are a lot of bands that make their own guitar effects pedal board, according to their preferences as well. Some bands even attach wheels onto the guitar effects pedal board that they make. It makes the guitar effects pedal board mobile and more convenient to use.
Now, let get into the power supply that is connected to the guitar effects pedal board. Most of the effects pedals employ DC power. But the use of this actually depends on the manufacturers of the effects pedals themselves. The voltages that just might be used by these pedals include 9v, 12v, 15v, 18v, 24v, and 40v. There are certain effects pedals that can take a wide range of input voltages from a power source. These varying voltages create different guitar effects as well. Guitar players can then change the voltage of the power supply to create the particular guitar effect he wants to employ.
There are actually a lot of methods to come up with DC power. These are by battery, by DC power supply, or by a bunch of rechargeable batteries, with a charger, of course. Individual batteries are perfect for guitarists who play just occasionally, for around two hours or so. But if you plan to play longer, then individual batteries would not make that much sense. A DC power supply would be a better alternative here. But then again, there is the issue of cost because using such a supply does have higher costs. Using multiply power supplies can also produce irritating sounds in the background. Thus, the DC power supply might not be that great for the guitar effects pedal board.
The use of rechargeable batteries for the guitar effects pedal board is then the logical choice. A single rechargeable battery provides enough power to drive all of the pedals on the guitar effects pedal board. This also helps get rid of ground loops and irritating sounds as well.
