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Chapter 6: Blues Progressions, Song Forms, and Moves
111
(continued)
C
C6
C
C6
G
G6
G
G6
D
D6
D
D6
32 1
3 2 1
32 1
3 2 1
32 4
3 2 4
32 4
3 2 4
132
432
13 2
432
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 4 4 2 2 4 4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
In the blues move in G, you have to mute the open string that your finger just
left to play the new chord (indicated by an X in the chord diagram).
Jimmy’s move in A
In this section, you familiarize yourself with the Jimmy Reed move in A. The
move travels up the neck of the guitar to grab the IV and V chords (the technique
is shown in Figure 6-10). This sound is very rock ’n’ roll (and I mean
that in a good way), and has a less folky character than the G progression
in the previous section. The blues move in A has an entirely different feel
than the same move in G, yet they’re only one letter away — the basis for
Chuck Berry’s sound and for much of the “boogie” rock ’n’ roll played by
rockabilly artists of the ’50s, ’60s, and today. (For more info on rockabilly,
see Chapter 11).
The sound of sadness: Minor blues
For a different flavor of blues, consider the blues in a minor key setting.
Minor keys in music sound sad or menacing or mysterious, and what better
way to give the blues a double dose of trouble than to put it in a minor key?
Putting the blues in minor also provides some variety. A minor blues doesn’t
say much about the form, only that it uses minor chords instead of the usual
major or dominant-seven chords. A minor blues can be a 12-bar blues with
minor chords or a straight-eighth (or non-shuffle feel), 16-bar format (instead
of the more common 12-bar format).
TEAM LinG