12-Bar Blues chord progression

The 12-bar blues is a chord progression of three seventh chords, I7, IV7 and V7: A7, D7 and E7 in A major. It stays on A7 for four bars, moves to D7 and back, then runs E7, D7, A7 and E7 into the next round. In E major the same numerals give E7, A7 and B7.

12-Bar Blues in A major

MajorI7 – IV7 – V7

A7 D7 E7

Heard in “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry

Key

Tuning

Chart

  1. Bar 1: A7I7
  2. Bar 2: A7I7
  3. Bar 3: A7I7
  4. Bar 4: A7I7
  5. Bar 5: D7IV7
  6. Bar 6: D7IV7
  7. Bar 7: A7I7
  8. Bar 8: A7I7
  9. Bar 9: E7V7
  10. Bar 10: D7IV7
  11. Bar 11: A7I7
  12. Bar 12: E7V7

Chords

The 12-Bar Blues bar by bar

The 12-bar blues runs three lines of four bars, four beats a bar. In A major the first line is four bars of A7, the second two of D7 and two of A7, the third E7, D7, A7 and E7, one bar each. The last two bars are the turnaround, and the last bar leads back to the first.

Roman numerals name a chord by its place in the key, so I7 is A7 in A major and E7 in E major. For the chords of each key, see chords in a key.

The 12-Bar Blues in all 12 keys

The form is the same in every key, only the chords move. Each row names I7, IV7 and V7 in turn; the chart above gives their order bar by bar.

The 12-Bar Blues in the twelve major keys: each key with the progression's chords
KeyChords
C majorC7 F7 G7
Db majorDb7 Gb7 Ab7
D majorD7 G7 A7
Eb majorEb7 Ab7 Bb7
E majorE7 A7 B7
F majorF7 Bb7 C7
F# majorF#7 B7 C#7
G majorG7 C7 D7
Ab majorAb7 Db7 Eb7
A majorused hereA7 D7 E7
Bb majorBb7 Eb7 F7
B majorB7 E7 F#7

Variations on the 12-Bar Blues

Three close relatives of the 12-bar blues, each written out in A:

  • Quick-Change Blues, I7 – IV7 – V7, in A major

    A7 D7 A7 A7 / D7 D7 A7 A7 / E7 D7 A7 E7

    Bar 2 goes to D7 and straight back, the move players call the quick four; the rest is the 12-bar form.

  • 8-Bar Blues, I7 – V7 – IV7, in A major

    A7 E7 D7 D7 / A7 E7 A7 E7

    Eight bars in place of twelve, with E7 already in bar 2.

  • Minor Blues, i7 – iv7 – bVI7 – V7, in A minor

    Am7 Am7 Am7 Am7 / Dm7 Dm7 Am7 Am7 / F7 E7 Am7 E7

    Twelve bars in a minor key, with F7 a half step above the E7 it falls to in bars 9 and 10.

Chord diagrams in TabTunix and, under them, five chords on the timeline, ready to play in a loop at 170 BPM

Step by step

How to practice the 12-Bar Blues

Get each change clean to a slow click, then play the whole form, then move it to another key.

  1. A7 to D7 in bar 5, and back in bars 7 and 11: the first change of the form.
  2. The last four bars, E7, D7, A7 and E7: a new chord on every bar.
  3. All twelve bars at a tempo where no change comes late, counting the bars as you go.
  4. The same form in E major, E7, A7 and B7: you know E7 and A7 already, and B7 is the one new shape.

In TabTunix the twelve bars loop at your tempo with a click under them: one strum a bar while you learn the changes, a strum on every beat once they hold, or each chord picked note by note. Make it a chord-change exercise of A7, D7 and E7 with a tempo to reach.

Stuck on one change? Play just those two chords back and forth: that is how to change chords faster. A few minutes of it belong in any guitar practice routine.

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Questions about the 12-Bar Blues

I7, IV7 and V7, three seventh chords: A7, D7 and E7 in A major. Only E7 belongs to the key as it stands; A7 adds G and D7 adds C, two notes from outside A major. They are the key's flat seventh and flat third, two of the blue notes, and a large part of why the form sounds like the blues.

Play the twelve bars until you stop counting them. Free, for Mac and Windows.

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