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Blues is a style of music which is often conveyed through particular chord progressions. The most common of these is the "12 bar blues". The bass often plays a simple pattern which is then used over the various chord changes. Blues can be in any key so the following chord changes are expressed in both scale degrees and chords for the key of A. You'll notice that there are only three chords in this progression; i.e. the I, IV and V chords. This chord progression is used in Example B3.
Blues preceeded jazz. Improvisation is the what blues is all about as the chord progression is usually repeated many times. Example B1 doesn't have a chord progression as it revolves around G. Example B1
Example B1 uses right-hand ghost notes. Ghost notes are a very effective way of sitting even closer with the drums as they invariably fall on another part of the drum kit such as the hi-hats. The bass then complements the whole kit and not just the snare and bass drum. Ghost notes always occur before the real note so they are also anticipated notes. Example B2
Example B2 is a typical blues bass line which could also be called a walking bass line as there is a bass note for each beat. Example B3
Example B4
Example B4 is a four bar blues riff in the key of G using hammer-ons. Although this example is in the key of G, it has been notated without using the G key signature (which would have had all F notes as being F#). This is because the whole concept of key signatures is to enable the major scale to be notated more easily. Blues and soul music rarely use the major 7th note so it is often easier to notate the music without a key signature. Example B5
Example B5 is a two bar blues riff in the key of Bbmin. Example B6
Example B6 is a jazz blues in the key of Bb using ghost notes on each hand. A common jazz blues uses the standard I7, IV7 and V7 chords but also includes the II7, III7 and VI7 chords.
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