Page 11 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 59 60 TABLE OF CONTENTS | CD Track Introduction: The Origin of 12-Bar Blues Bibliography Tunings ncn rere eye ee ROTEL Ee Oe TAU Ree Ree Ree TEs PE aes 1 Slow 12/8, Type Lo. oo cee cece cece cv ec ce cecscvesecueceuvetetcteevrseevnes 2 Slow 12/8, Type 2 00.0 c ccc cv cc ev cece eeceevetustevseveersevtvneeveees 3 Swinging Shufflenayde ox cusomsmn eau ee eee TEE oR Re cae 4 Swinging Shuffle no. 20 0... e eee eee 5 Moderate Boogie Shufflerio: 1 «2 meesa games camera esaie 65-8885 FOE RE Bee ence eis end 6 Modéiiite, Boosie Shuttlemon? scccrasuyscceane rumen ounnum ces eee d Chicago Riff Blues no. Loo... nbc cnet eee e ned 8 ChicarotRift Blucsti0: 2: conaapgensyemgee menue eee N TORE RATES TSE et 9 Slow Minor Blues... 00.0 cece cence nee beeen cece nes 10 Jazzy Minor: BINES iu soe aun seg wearer ge BATE ge iene ap «ayers arerse emasoonece narierecas intone 1, Rift Blucsnord voscnuss- operas en eme yee ERNE Ree 12 Riff Blues no. 2 oo ce ee eee eee eee bee tee ence ey eens 13 Rif Blues 6:3 saccesey sear ee Re hts SEES SETS FESBIY nee Bere ereuerare e upereinrw enue 14 Boogie: Woogie: Bluesinos |, scenes came es ems nyES oe eee RE EAST ESS 15 Boogie Woogie Blues no. 20 2.0... cee tenet tenes 16 [avy Blues os pa rsvseeyscrunaeyumassmneeyauvess $a Htt7MEUI nd nerancee sun 17 Jazz EBB le shs:cau-a ecxcer ppm an scrcisee tiers CRN yE AMR ETH can ERI eee ENTORSTE OEE 18 Jazziest Blues 2... eect eee ee en eens 19 Bebop Blues cave yesngsvsvawavsuwesarweevsgwaeeemesesnadieedtiesbacence 20 Accompanying: Keyboards -:cucemecar eercua peeomerer ae ane nee epee RS 21 Turnarounds 6.0... ee ett tenet eee es 22 INGOS spe uaeemaee cee SD MES eS TERRE ERMA Dou eMKE BIE OT ORE RLS ) Soloihg overas 2° Bar Blues} sneren meme meommmmneamnanc ence ane aim queen: 24 About the Author Guitar Notation Legend4 Introduction INTRODUCTION The Origin of 12-Bar Blues By Dave Rubin and Edward Komara The 12-bar blues is a musical building block that can be used to provide moving and exhaustive performances. With an elegant logic unique to the blues genre, the J, [V, and V changes guide the feet and arms from one dance step to another. When words are added and sung, they can acquire from these changes an ironic inflection that can be humorous or sarcastic. With a shuffle beat mimicking the beat- ing of the human heart on adrenaline, the 12-bar progression can become the basis of a self-perpetuat- ing cycle well-suited for vivid narratives or exuberant frolics. The I chord (meas. 1-4) presents the initial melody, and the [V chord (meas. 56) resets it with some degree of harmonic tension before the I chord reappears with sweet relief (meas. 7-8). The V chord (meas. 9) breathtakingly caps the momentum and then the turnaround (meas. 11-12) closes the chorus while at the same time preparing for the next in- stallment of twelve bars. I L turnaround The 12-bar blues as we know it, with three melodic phrases of four measures each and the second phrase starting on the IV chord, has its roots back in England during the time of Henry VIII. There, in the mid 1500s, twelve-measure modal folk tunes with three phrases were reported for the first time. It would be another 150 years or so before this “note per syllable” singing would give Ex.1 TUNEAEEN APOSER. way to figured bass and eventually tonality BM. Addl. MSS, 31.922; Musica Arequa from a MS. ine possession of, Stafford Smit (chord changes) by way of opera. Example ° 1, “I Have Been a Foster,” is a modal com- position typical of the period. Note, how- ever, that though it mostly centers on F, it ends (presciently?} on C, the V chord. If we strictly adhere to the notated key of C, it could also be seen as IV (F) resolving to | ror [Fast] 1 have bene fs 1 (C). Admittedly, this is looking at this example from modal antiquity through the high-resolution tonal lens of the late twentieth century, but the implied motion of either -V or IV-1 is there. Just across the Irish Sea, from England, Irish fiddlers were developing twelve-measure ditties, also sans harmonic changes, as early as 1620.