Guitar Chords, advanced theory and blues

I think in terms of two kinds of music theory -

(1) theory for nice melodic and diatonic songs (classical, folk, ballads) and

(2) theory for blues, funk and rock

I find it really helps to keep these two boxes separate.

First, check out my other hub entitled Easy Blues, because it's essential to understand the basic 12-bar blues progression.This is building on the foundations of the basic sequence: which is

E7 / E7 / E7 / E7 / A7 / A7 / E7 / E7 / B7 / A7 / E7 / B7. (Four beats for each bar)

On the diagram the numbers under each chord picture give you the number of beats on each chord. The chords are not named as I feel this is a distraction.

Simplified, the chords would be

E7 / A13 / E7 / E7 / A13 / Bb dim / (one bar each)

E7, F♯m7 / G ♯m7, C♯7 ♯ 9 / F♯m7 / B7 / E7 A7 / E7, B7♯ 9 /

In Blues playing you can substitute any 7th chord for a 9th chord or 13th chord, as they all contain the flat 7 interval characteristic of the blues. So if you find the 13th too tricky, just play the relevant 7th chord. I'm giving you a lot of information here, you don't need to use it all.

The first 4 chords connect the E7 to A7 or A13 - a jazz and swing type progression. One chord on each of the four beats, where you would normally just play E7.This kind of sound is used widely in jazz standards, and could be applied in many different songs.

The next two chords are A13 and A9 - remember, you can use these interchangeably. When you hit the next E7, it's a good place to play some "smokin" blues riffs using the scale shown below.

Stylistically this is a more jazz version of the blues - works best at a fairly slow tempo.

More complex chords like these will often work better with a fingerpicked right hand - thumb on the bass note, play the other strings with your fingers. I find that jamming them together and pulling up as one unit helps.

This sequence is just an example - feel free to lift parts of it, or simplify parts of it. Also, at any point you could put in some lead playing, as long as you stick to the time and bar sequence.

Some guitars are better than others for playing authentic blues styles. Guitars that work very well would include:

Fender Stratocaster

Gibson 335, 345, 355, 339

Some amp distortion and a tube amp sound to give some extra sustain are helpful too.